£ibrar;p  of  Che  Cheolocjical  Seminar  jo 

PRINCETON    .    NEW  JERSEY 


'i»<S^ 


PRESENTED  BY 

The  Presbyterian  Board   of  Publication 


Kresb.  H'd  of  Hub.  C«IL 


/nsr^- 


LETTERS 


OF 


JOHN  CALVIN 


COMPILED  FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  MANUSCRIPTS  AND 
EDITED  WITH  HISTORICAL  NOTES 


/ 


BY 

DR.  JULES  BONNET. 

VOL.  IV. 

TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  LATIN  AND  TRENCH  LANGUAGES 


BY 

MARCUS  ROBERT  GILCHRIST. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
PRESBYTERIAN    BOARD    OF    PUBLICATION, 

NO.  821  CHESTNUT  STUKET. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1858,  b7 
JAMES  DUNLAP,  Treas., 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  ot  tae  XMstriot  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 

8IKEE0TTPED   BY  WILLIAM   W.    HARDING. 


CONTENTS. 


1559. 

xetter  pack 

DXXII.  To  William  Cecil. — Hopes  connected  with  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth — Wishes  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  pure  gospel  in  England,        .  .     15 
DXXIII.  To  THE  Prisoners  of  Paris. — He  apologizes  for 
the  silence  which  he  haslcept  with  respect  to  them, 
and  exhorts  them  to  persevere  in  the  profession 
of  the  truth,        .              .             .             .  .18 

DXXIV.  To  THE  French  Church  of  Frankfort. — Warn- 
ing on  the  subject  of  the  new  doctrines  dissemi- 
nated in  this  church,       .  .  •  .21 
DXXV.  To  Augustin  Legrant. — Severe  admonitions,       .     23 
DXXVI,  To  Martin  Micronius. — Progress  of  the  Reforma- 
tion  in   Sweden — The  dispatch  of  a  writing — 
News  of  Geneva  and  Lausanne,             .             .     25 
DXXVII.  To  the  Prince  Royal  of  Sweden. — Dedication 

of  a  writing  to  Gustavus  Wasa,  .  .27 

DXXVIII.  To  Farel. — Dispersion  of  the  Churches  of  the  Pays 

de  Vaud,  .  .  .  .  .29 

DXXIX.  To  Madame  de  Coligny. — False  tidings  of  the 
deliverance  of  the  Admiral — Consolations  on  that 
subject,  .  .  .  .  .  .29 

DXXX.  To  Peter   Martyr. — Calvin's  illness — Death  of 
Lactanzio    Ragnone  —  Troubles    of    the    Italian 
Church,  .  .  .  .  .  .31 

DXXXI.  To  Jerome  Zanchi. — Call  to  the  ministry  in  the 

Church  of  Geneva,  .  .  .  .33 

DXXXII.  To  Francis  Boisnormand. — Regret fornot having 
been  able  to  have  him  called  as  Professor  to  the 
Academy  of  Geneva,       .  .  .  .35 

DXXXIII.  To  M.  De  La  Gaucherie. — Dissensions  at  the 
Court  of  the  King  of  Navarre — Spanish  refugees 
— Salutations  to  the  young  Prince  of  Beam,  after- 
wards Henry  TV.,  .  .  .  .     od 

(3  J 


4  CONTENTS. 

LETTER  PAGE 

DXXXIV.  To  M.  DE  CoLONGES. — Preliminaries  of  tlie  Synod 

of  Paris — Sending  of  several  ministers,  .     38 

DXXXV.  To  HoTMAN. — Quarrels  of  Hotman  with  Francis 

Baudouin,  .  .  .  .  .40 

DXXXYI.  To  THE  Marquise  de  Kothelin. — Sends  one  of 
his  writings  to  the  young  Duke  de  Longueville 
— Exhortations  to  the  Duke's  mother,     .  .     42 

DXXXVII.  To  the  Duke  de  Longueville. — He  exhorts  him 
to  abstain  from  all  participation  in  the  idolatries 
and  disorders  of  the  age,  .  .  .44 

DXXXVIII.  To  William  Cecil. — He  exculpates  himself  to 
these  ministers  of  the  imputations  brought 
against  him  on  account  of  a  writing  of  Knox's,  46 
DXXXIX.  To  the  Brethren  of  France. — Perseverance  in 
the  faith — Patience  in  persecution — Trust  iu 
God,  who  will  sooner  or  later  take  in  hand  the 
cause  of  his  innocent  followers,  .  .     49 

DXL.  To  the  Church  of  Paris. — Inutility  of  the  steps 
taken  in  favour  of  the  French  Protestants — The 
helplessness  of  men — Fidelity  of  God,  .  .     54 

DXLI.  To  THE  Count  D'Erbach. — He  offers  him  Christ- 
ian congratulations,  and  consults  him  about  a 
project  of  dedicating  to  the  Elector  Palatine  the 
Book  of  the  Institution,  .  .  .56 

DXLII.  To  Francis  Daniel. — He  pleads  with  Daniel  in 
favour  of  one  of  his  sons  who  had  taken  refuge 
at  Geneva  for  the  sake  of  religion,         .  .     59 

DXLIII,  To  John  Sturm. — Complaints  about  the  weakness 

and  inactivity  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  .     61 

DXLIV.  To  THE  Duke  de  Longueville. — He  warns  him 

of  the  dangers  and  temptations  of  the  court,      .     63 
DXLV-  To  THE  Marquise  de  Rothelin. — He  urges  her 
to  show  herself  always  more  firm  in  the  profes- 
sion of  the  truth,  .  .  .  .65 
DXL VI.  To  Peter  Martyr. — Sufferings  of  the   French 
Protestants — Gloomy  apprehensions   respecting 
the  future,         .             .             .             .             .66 
DXLVII.  To  BuLLiNGER. — Reply  of  a  German  Prince — Beza 
at  Strasbourg — Deplorable  situation  of  theFrench 
Reformed — Preludes  of  Civil  Wars,       .             .     68 
DXLVIII.  To  Madame  de  Grammont. — Consolations  on  the 

subject  of  a  domestic  affliction,  .  .70 

DXLIX.  To  John  Knox. — Answers  to  different  ecclesias- 
tical questions, .  .  .  .  .73 


CONTENTS. 


DL.  To  Francis  Daniel. — News  of  young  Daniel  studying 

at  the  Academy  of  Geneva, 
DLL  To  IMoNSiEUR  de  Clervant. — Marks  of  sympathy  on 
the  occasion  of  the  exile  to  which  this  seigneur  was 
condemned,  ..... 

DLII.  To  THE  Brethren  of  France. — He  exhorts  them  to 
redouble  their  faith  to  meet  their  redoubled  persecu- 
tions, and  to  live  and  die  for  the  confession  of  Jesus 
Christ,        ...... 


1560. 


DLIII. 

DLIV. 

DLV. 

DLVL 

DLVII. 

DLVIII. 

DLIX. 

DLX. 

DLXI. 

DLXIT. 
DLXIII. 

DLXIV. 

DLXV. 

DLXVI. 


78 


80 


To  Bullinger. — Complaint  of  the  unjust  proceedings 
of  Berne  with  respect  to  Geneva,     .  .  .87 

To  Francis  Daniel. — Counsels  for  the  education  of 
young  Daniel,  .  .  .  .  .89 

To  John  Sturm. — Severe  judgment  respecting  the 
conspiracy  of  Amboise,        .  .  .  .91 

To  John  Gellin. — He  exhorts  him  to  leave  France 
in  order  to  retire  to  Geneva,  .  .  .92 

To  the  Church  of  Valence. — Christian  exhortations 
— The  sending  of  a  pastor,  .  .  .95 

To  the  Church  of  Montelimart. — Eulogy  of  the 
Minister  Francis  de  St.  Paul — Prudent  counsels,      .     96 

To  THE  Bishop  of  London. — Recommendation  of  the 
French  Church  of  London — Eulogium  of  des  Gallars 
— Wish  for  a  complete  Reform  of  the  Anglican 
Church, 99 

To  Charles  Utenhoven — Tokens  of  lively  interest 
for  the  French  Church  of  London — Perils  of 
Geneva,       ......  102 

To  Bullinger. — Renewed  disapprobation  of  the  con- 
spiracy of  Amboise — Account  of  the  intrigues  of 
Renaudie  at  Geneva — Vain  opposition  of  Calvin,     .  104 

To  Peter  Martyr. — Reverts  to  the  conspiracy  of 
Amboise — Troubles  in  France — Dangers  of  Geneva,  106 

To  Sturm  and  Hotman. — Treacherous  policy  of  the 
Guises — New  appeal  addressed  to  the  German  Princes 
— Petition  to  the  king,        ....  108 

To  John  Lusen. — Anxieties  about  the  Churches  of 
Poland — Refutation  of  the  errors  of  Stancari,  112 

To  Nicholas  des  Gallars. — Counsels  for  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Church — Domestic  news,  .  .11-4 

To  the  Earl  of  Bedford. — Agitations  of  Europe — 
Wishes  for  the  re-establishment  of  peace,  and  for  the 
marriage  of  the  Queen  of  England,  .  .  115 


b  CONTENTS. 

LETTER  PAGB 

DLXVII.  To  THE  Waldenses. — He  exhorts  them  to  keep 
up  friendly  relations  with  the  Reformed  churches  of 
Poland,        ......  117 

DLXVIII.  To  THE  Duchess  of  Ferrara. — He  apologizes 
for  not  having  been  able  to  send  her  a  minister — 
exhorts  her  to  free  herself  from  the  obligation  of  an 
oath  they  have  imposed  on  her,  and  to  show  herself 
more  firm  in  the  profession  of  the  gospel,     .  .  121 

DLXIX.  To  Bullinger. — Mission  of  Theodore  Beza  in 
France — Counsels  to  the  churches  of  that  country — 
Sending  oif  of  four  pupils  to  Zurich — Death  of  a 
minister  of  Geneva,  .  .  .  .124 

DLXX.  To  Theodore  Beza. — Troubles  in  France — Faults 
committed  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Reformed  party — 
Sluggishness  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  .  .  126 

DLXXI.  To  SuLCER. — Movements  in  Italy — Causes  of  the 

troubles  in  France — States  of  Fontainebleau,  .  130 

DLXXII.  To  Bullinger. — Intrigues  of  the  Guises  in  Ger- 
many, and  of  the  Emperor  in  Italy — New  details  re- 
specting the  Assembly  of  Fontainebleau — Speeches 
of  the  Chancellor,  and  of  the  Bishop  of  Valence — 
Progress  of  the  gospel  in  France,     .  .  .  133 

DLXXIII.  To  Nicholas  des  Gallars. — Domestic  details — 

News  of  the  Church  and  Academy  of  Geneva,         .  139 

DLXXIV.  To  Bullinger. — Conspiracy  of  Lyons — Journey 
of  the  King  of  Navarre — Expectation  of  grave  events 
in  France,  ......  142 

DLXXV.  To  Bullinger. — Alliance  of  the  Catholic  Cantons 
with  the  Duke  of  Savoy — Uncertainty  of  the  news 
from  France — Death  at  Geneva,      .  .  .144 

DLXXVI.  To  Sturm. — Mission  of  Hotman  and  Beza  to  the 

King  of  Navarre — Apathy  of  that  prince,    .  .  146 

-DLXXVII.  To  Bullinger. — Unsuccessful  issue  of  Beza's  mis- 
sion to  the  King  of  Navarre — Success  respecting  the 
communication  of  Melancthon's  letter — Intolerance 
of  the  German  Theologians,  .  .  .  148 

DLXXVIII.  To  SuLCER. — The  sending  of  a  pastor  to  the  Church 
of  St.  Marie  aux  Mines — The  arrival  of  the  King 
of  Navarre  at  the  court — Arrestation  of  the  Prince 
ofConde,   .  .  .  .  .  .150 

DLXXIX.  To  Sturm.— Death  of  King  Francis  II.— Incon- 
siderate ardour  of  the  Reformed — Moderating  action 
of  Calvin,   .  •  .  .  .  .  152 

DLXXX.  To  the  Ministers  of  Paris. — Counsels  respect- 
ing his  conduct  addressed  to  the  King  of  Navarre,      154 


CONTENTS.  7 

LETTER  PAQE 

DLXXXI.  To  THE  Reformed  Churches  of  France. — 

Project  of  assembling  a  council — conditions  re- 
quisite for  its  legitimacy,  .  .  .158 

1561. 

DLXXXII.  To  THE  King  of  Navarre. — He  exhorts  him 
to  pursue  with  ardour  the  restoration  of  the  gospel 
in  France,  .....  IGl 

DLXXXIII.  To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre. — He  congratulates 
her  on  her  conversion,  and  lays  before  her,  her 
principal  duties  as  a  Christian  princess,    .  .  162 

DLXXXIV.  To  THE  Admiral  Coligny. — Encomiums  on  the 
constancy   of  the   Admiral — Recommendation  of 
Geneva,  ......  165 

DLXXXV.  To  the  King  of  France. — Reply  to  the  accu- 
sations directed  against  the  Church  and  Seigneury 
of  Geneva,  .  .  .  .  .167 

DLXXXVI.  To  THE  Church  of  Paris — He  apologizes  for 
not  being  able  to  send  to  it  new  ministers — Advice 
relating  to  the  Council  of  Trent — Disapprobation 
of  the  excesses  committed  by  the  Reformed  in  the 
south  of  France,  .....  170 

DLXXXVII.  To  John  Lening.— Hostilities  of  the  Duke  of 
Savojf — Diversion  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  and 
at  Nice — Unexpected  preservation  of  Geneva,       .  173 
DLXXXVIIJ.  To  THE  Admiral  de  Coligny. — An  account 
and  solemn  disavowal  of  the  conspiracy  of  Am- 
boise,       ......  175 

DXC.  To  John  Knox. — Explanations  on  the  subject 
of  a  letter — Expression  of  satisfaction  at  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Reformation  in  Scotland  and  of  sym- 
pathj^  for  a  domestic  affliction,      .  .  .  183 

DXCI.  To    Christopher    Goodman. — Pious   admoni- 
tions on   the  occasion  of  the   death  of  Knox's 

wife, 185 

DXCII.  To  THE  Church  of  Aix. — Duty  of  Christians 
to  endure  persecution  without  murmuring  and 
without  resistance,  ....  186 

DXCIII.  To  Bullinger. — Intrigues  of  Vergerio  in  Ger- 
many— Portrait  of  the  King  of  Navarre. — Pro- 
gress of  the  gospel — Ardour  of  the  French  Pro- 
testants— Popular  massacres,  .  .  .188 
■~  DXCIV.  To  Ambrose  Blaurer. — News  from  France — 
Mission  of  new  ministers — Rage  of  the  Parliaments 
— Lutheran  Intolerance,  .  .101 


O  CONTENTS. 

LETTER  PAGB 

DXCY.  To  THE  Admiral  de  Coligny. — Pious  exhortations 

— Renewed  recommendation  of  Geneva,  .  .  192 

DXCVI.  To  THE  King  of  Navarre. — Keen  censure  of  the 

foibles  of  this  monarch,  .  .  .  .  194 

DXCVII.  To  THE  Church  of  Nimes. — Ecclesiastical  troubles, 

and  counsels  how  to  remedy  them,      .  .  .  197 

DXCVIII.  To  James  Stuart — He  engages  him  to  persevere 
in  his  pious  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  the  reign  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  Scotland,         ....  200 

DXCIX.  To  THE  Admiral  de  Coligny. — He  pays  homage 
to  the  zeal  of  the  Admiral  and  the  constancy  of  the 
French  Protestants,    .....  202 

DC.  To   THE   Pastors   op    Zurich. — A   collection    in 

favour  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  Piedmont,        .  204 
DCI.  To  THE  Church  of  Sauve. — Energetic  censure  of 
the  acts  of  Vandalism  committed  by  a  minister  of  this 
church,  ......  205 

DCII.  To  the  King  of  Navarre. — Recommendation  of 

Theodore  Beza,  .  .  .  .  .207 

DCIII.  To  Peter  Martyr. — He  exhorts  him  to  repair  to 
the  religious  conferences  which  are  about  to  be  held  in 
France,  .  .  .  .  .  .208 

DCIV.  To  Sulcer. — Journey  of  Beza  and  Martyr  to  France 
— Preparations  for  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy — Intrigues  at 
the  court  of  Wurtemberg,        ....  210 

DCV.  To  THE  King  of  Navarre. — Warning  on  the  subject 
of  the  Lutheran  intrigues  to  introduce  into  France  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg,  ....  212 

DCVI.  To  Theodore  Beza.— Death  of  Guillaume  de  Trie- 
Penury  of  ministers  at  Geneva,  .  .  .  215 
DCVII.  To  Theodore  Beza. — Fresh  deaths  at  Geneva — 

Distrust  of  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Ferrara,       .  217 
DCVIII.  To  Theodore  Beza. — Doubts  respecting  the  eflSicacy 
of  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy — Policy  of  the  Romish  Pre- 
lates— Criticism  of  the  Augsburg  Confession — Divers 
particulars,     ......  218 

DCIX.  To  THE  Admiral  de  Coligny. — He  puts  him  on  his 
guard  against  the  Catholic  and  Lutheran  intrigues — 
Recall  of  the  minister  Merlin  to  Geneva,         .  .  221 

DCX.  To  Madame  de  Coligny. — He  congratulates  her  on 

her  perseverance  amidst  many  temptations  and  perils,  225 
DCXI.  To  the  Comtesse  de  Roye. — He  encourages  her 
to  persevere  with  her  daughters  in  the  profession  of 
the  truth,       ......  227 


CONTENTS.  » 

LETTER  ?\0I 

DCXII.  To  Theodore  Beza. — He  compliments  him  on  his 
noble  attitude  at  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  and  rejoices 
at  his  success,         .....  229 

DCXIII.  To  the  Comte  of  Erbacii. — lie  urges  him  to 
employ  his  influence  to  prevent  every  attempt  to  in- 
troduce the  Confession  of  Augsburg  into  France,      .  231 

DCXIV.  To  Theodore  Beza. — Ecclesiastical  news — Apos- 

tleship  of  Viret  in  France — Reply  to  Baudouin,       .  233 
DCXV.  To  Theodore  Beza. — Blames  the  excesses  com- 
mitted by  the    Reformed — Favourable  dispositions 
of  Catherine  de  Medicis — Escape  of  the  Duke  of 
Nemours,    ......  237 

DCXVL  To   Salignac. — Congratulations    and    encourage- 
ments,        ......  239 

DCXVII.  To  Theodore  Beza. — Journey  of  Theodore  Beza's 
wife  to  France — Difficult  situation  of  the  Academy 
of   Geneva — Sending   off  of    new    ministens — The 
Duke  of  Longueville,  and  the  Duke  of  Nemours — 
Divers  salutations,   .....  242 

DCXVIII.  To  the  Queen  of  Navarre. — Regret  for  the  pro- 
longed absence  of  Beza — Writing  against  Baudouin 
— Letter  to  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  mother  of  Jane 
d'Albret,     .  .  .  .  .  -245 

DCXIX.  To  the  King  of  Navarre. — Severe  judgment  re- 
specting the  conduct  of  this  prince,  a  renegade  from 
the  Reformed  religion,  ....  247 

1562. 

DCXX.  To    M.   DE    CoLONGES. — Answer   to   three   ques- 
tions, .  .  .  .  .  .252 

DCXXI.  To  M.  DE  Passy. — He  urges  him  to  accept  the 

functions  of  an  evangelical  minister,  .  .  254 

DCXXII.  To  Theodore  Beza. — Catholic  League — Recom- 
mendations of  the  family  of  Guillaume  de  Frie — 
Last  words  of  that  Seigneur,  .  .  .  256 

DCXXIIL  To  Theodore  Beza. — Imprudent  concession  made 
to  the  Catholic  prelates — Regrets  and  warnings  of 
Calvin,         ......  258 

DCXXIV.  To  THE  Duchess  op  Ferrara. — League  against 
the  Reformation — Complaints  respecting  the  conduct 
of  the  Duchess  of  Guise,  ....  260 
DCXXV-  To  Bullinger. — News  of  France — Disorders  at 
Aix — Progress  of  the  gospel — Negotiations  with  the 
court — Synod  of  Neuchatel,  •  .  •  262 


10  CONTENTS. 

lETIER  PAGE 

DCXXVI.  To  Peter  Martyr. — Disorders  tte  precursors 
of  the  civil  wars  in  France — Opposition  of  the  Re- 
former to  the  Council  of  Trent,    •  .  .  265 
DCXXVII.  To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre. — Expression  of 

warm  sympathy  for  the  trials  of  this  princess,       .  266 
DCXXVIII.  To   Sturm. — Mission  of  Bude  into  Germany — 

Duplicity  of  the  Guises,  ....  268 
DCXXIX.  To  THE  Church  of  Lyons. — Severe  admonitions 

because  of  the  conduct  of  one  of  its  ministers,  .  269 
DCXXX.  To  THE  Baron  des  Adrets. — He  exhorts  him 
to  repress  severely  the  disorders  of  those  of  his 
party  at  Lyons,  .....  272 
DCXXXI.  To  Monsieur  de  Diesbach. — He  urges  him  to 
send  succour  to  the  Reformed  who  were  besieged 
in  Lyons,  .....  274 

DCXXXII-  To  BuLLiNGER. — An  appeal  addressed  to  the 
Seigneurs  of  Berne  in  favour  of  the  French  Pro- 
testants— Succours  from  England  and  Germany 
— Juridical  massacres  at  Toulouse — Preliminaries 
of  the  civil  war,  .....  275 
DCXXXIII.  To  BuLLiNGER. — A  petition  in  favour  of  a  prisoner 

of  the  inquisition  at  Milan,  .  .  .  277 

DCXXXIV.  To  THE  Churches  of  Languedoc. — A  collec- 
tion for  the  benefit  of  the  German  soldiers  enrolled 
under  the  banner  of  the  Reformed  churches,  .  278 
DCXXXV.  To  Sulcer. — Political  and  military  news  from 
France — Catherine  de  Medicis — The  Emperor 
Ferdinand — The  Turks — The  Queen  of  England 
— Complaints  against  Peter  Toussain,       .  •  280 

DCXXXVI.  To  BuLLiNGER. — First  religious  war — Respective 
force  of  the  two  parties — Siege  of  Lyons — The 
Duke  of  Nemours — Des  Adrets — News  of  Ger- 
many, and  the  Council  of  Trent,  .  .  .  282 

1563. 

DCXXXVII.  Tp  BuLLiNGER.— Battle  of  Dreux— Captivity  of 
Cond6 — Imposing  attitude  of  Coligny — Theodore 
Beza  at  Orleans — Mission  of  the  Cardinal  de  Lor- 
raine to  Germany — False  news  from  France,  .  286 
DCXXXVIII.  To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre. — Counsels  for  the 
abolition  of  the  Catholic  worship  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  pure  gospel  in  Navarre,  .  .  290 
DCXXXIX.  To  M.  DE  SouBiSE.— He  exhorts  him  to  lay 
down  arms  after  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  disad- 
vantageous to  his  party,  ....  295 


CONTENTS.  11 

l.ETTEB  PAGE 

DCXL.  To   BuLLiNGER. — Treaty   of  Amboise — Strictures 
on  this  treaty  concluded  by  the  Prince  of  Conde  with- 
out the  approbation  of  Coligny  and  the  principal  Pro- 
testant chiefs,  .....  207 
DCXLI.  To  THE  CoMTESSE  i)E  RoYE. — Tie  blames  the  con- 
duct of  the  Prince  of  Conde,  and  deplores  the  condi- 
tion of  the  French  churches  badly  protected  by  the 
last  treaty,  •             .  .  .  .  .301 
DCXLII.  To  THE  Marquise  de  Rothelin — He  congratulates 
her  on  her  firmness  in  the  midst  of  troubles,  and  ex- 
horts her  to  perseverance,     ....  303 
DCXLIII.  To  M.  DE  Crussol. — Sad  condition  of  France,  pre- 
sage of  new  troubles — Double  message  to  the  Prince 
of  Conde  and  De  Coligny,    ....  304 
DCXLI V.  To  Madame  de  Crussol. — Wishes  for  the  happy 
success  of  the  journey  to  court,  which  she  is  about  to 
undertake — Pious  exhortations,        .             .  .  306 
DCXLV.  To  the  Prince  Porcien. — He  exhorts  him  to 

glorify  God  in  life  as  in  death,  .  .  .  307 

DCXL VI.  To  the  Prince  of  Condf:. — Instructions  respect- 
ing the  greatest  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the 
treaty  of  Amboise — The  sending  off  of  a  confession 
of  faith  to  Germany — Alliance  with  Swisserland — 
Recommendation  of  Geneva,  .  .  .  309 

DCXLVII.  To  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara. — He  congratulates 
her  on  her  noble  conduct  amidst  the  civil  wars — ¥jX- 
horts  her  to  keep  her  house  free  from  all  scandal,  and 
recommends  to  her  an  ancient  servant,  .  .  313 

DCXLVIII.  To  Monsieur  de  Soubise. — Counsels  respecting 
the  conduct  he  ought  to  hold  in  very  difficult  con- 
junctures,    .  .  .  .  •  .316 
DCXLIX.  To  the  Queen  of  Navarre. — Sending  off  minis- 
ters— Claiming  of  a  debt  contracted  by  the  King  of 
Navarre,       .             .             •             •             •  .318 
DCL.  To   BuLLlNGER. — Sufferings  of  Calvin — News  of 
the  court  and  kingdom  of  France — Precautions  against 
the  Confession  of  Augsburg,             .            .  .  320 
DCLI.  ToBuLLiNGER. — Ncwsof  France — Reply  of  Coligny 
and  Theodore  Beza  to  a  calumnioiLS  accusation — Siege 
of  Havre,     ...•••  323 
DCLII.  To  BuLLiNGER. — Disturbances  at  Rouen — Uncer- 
tainty respecting  the  projects  of  Coligny — Calm  at 
Lyons,          ...•••  32r) 
DCLIII.  To   Monsieur   de   Crussol. — Answer    to   some 

scruples  expressed  by  this  seigneur,  .  .  326 


12  CONTENTS. 


DCLIV.  To  THE  Admiral  de  Coligny. — Communications 
respecting  the  printing  of  a  memorial — Wishes  for 
the  prompt  return  of  the  Admiral  to  the  court,  .  328 

DCLV.  To  Madame  de  Coligny. — The  Christian  uses  of 

sickness,      .  .  .  .  .  .331 

DCLVI.  To  THE  CoMTESSE  DE  Seninghen. — He  exhorts 
her  to  show  herself  firm  in  the  profession  of  the  faith 
and  patient  in  affliction,  ....  332 
DCLVII.  To  Bullinger. — Taking  of  Havre  from  the  English 
— Majority  of  King  Charles  IX. — Movements  of  the 
Duke  of  Savoy,  .....  334 
DCLVIII.  To  THE  Prince  of  Conde. — Request  concerning 
the  publication  of  a  confession  of  faith — Blame  of 
the  gallantries  of  the  prince,  .  .  .  837 

DCLIX.  To  Bullinger. — News  of  France — Humiliation  of 
the  Parliament  of  Paris  and  of  the  Guises — False 
news  of  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,      .  .  339 

DCLX.  To  Mercer. — New  proposals  of  a  chair  in   the 

Academy  of  Geneva,  .  .  .  .341 

DCLXI.  To  M.  DE  LoiNES. — Councillor  in  the  court  of  Par- 
liament of  Paris — Exhortation  not  to  abandon  his 
office  of  councillor  and  still  less  the  truth,      .  343 

DCLXII.  To  Bullinger. — Versatile  policy  of  Catherine  de 
Medicis — Departure  of  Conde — Favour  of  Coligny — 
Intolerance  of  the  Guises — Oppression  of  the  Pro- 
testants in  the  provinces — Necessity  for  assuring  to 
them  some  guaranties,  ....  345 

1564. 

DCLXIII.  To  THE  Duchess  or  Ferrara. — Counsels  for  the 

direction  of  her  household — Present  of  a  medal,        .  348 

DCLXIV.  To   THE   Duchess   of   Ferrara. — Answer  to  a 
letter  of  this  princess  concerning  the  condemnation 
of  the  Duke  of  Guise  and  the  beatification  of  the  King 
of  Navarre — Is  it  lawful  to  hate  our  enemies — Eulogy 
of  Coligny,  .  .  .  .  .  .352 

DCLXV.  To  the  Physicians  of  Montpellier. — Medical 

consultation,  .....  358 

DCLXVI.  To  THE  Duchess  of  Ferrara. — Homage  rendered 
to  the  piety  of  this  princess — Eulogy  of  her  niece  the 
Duchess  of  Savoy,  .....  360 
DCLXVII.  To  Bullinger. — Sufferings  of  Calvin  and  the  in- 
efficacy  of  the  healing  art  to  relieve  them — News  of 
France  and  Germany,  ....  362 

DCLXVIII.  To  Farel.— Last  adieus,  .  .  .  .364 


CONTENTS.  18 


LAST  DISCOURSES  OF  CALVIN. 


PAGK 


Last  Will  and  Testament  of  Master  John  Calvin,         .  365 
Calvin's  Farewell  to  the  Seigneurs  of  Geneva,  .  .  369 

Calvin's  Farewell  to  the  Ministers  of  Geneva,  .  .  372 


APPENDIX. 
1534. 


I.  To  Francis  Daniel. — Preparations  for  his  departure  for 
Switzerland — Recommendation  of  a  physician,  .        .  381 

1538. 

II.  To  BuCER. — Unsuccessful  results  of  the  Colloquy  of  Berne 
— Sacramentarian  discord — Remarkable  judgment  concern- 
ing Luther — Violence  of  the  Bernese  Minister  Conzen — 
Appeal  to  Bucer,   ......  382 

III.  To  Bullinger. — An  account  of  the  conferences  at  Berne 
— Vain  attempt  at  reconciliation  between  Geneva  and  the 
exiled  ministers — Sad  state  of  this  church  after  the  banish- 
ment of  Farel  and  Calvin,  .....  392 

1539. 

IV.  To  Zebedee. — Pressing  invitations  to  concord — Apology 
for  Bucer — Judgment  respecting  Zwingli,  Luther,  Carlostadt 

— Necessity  of  union,         .....  400 

1546- 

V.  To  ViRET. — Tragical  death  of  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
Libertine  party  at  Geneva — Discourse  pronounced  by  Calvin 
on  this  occasion,     ......  405 

1548. 

VI.  To  ViRET. — Mention  of  Servetus — ^Marriage  of  the  minister 

Merlin — Epistolary  vexations,         ....  409 


14  CONTENTS. 


LETTER 


VII.   To  Brentz. — Message  of  consolation  and  fraternal  sym- 
pathy,   .  .  .  .  .  •  -411 
1552. 

VIII.  To  Ambrose  Blaurer. — Sends  him  divers  works — 
News  of  Italy — Belgium  and  France — Disturbances  in 
Germany — Chastisement  of  Constance,  .  .  413 

IX.  To  Francis  Dryander. — Consultation  on  the  subject 
of  a  new  edition  of  the  Bible — Troubles  in  Geneva — 
Apology  of  Calvin  for  himself,  .  .  .  415 

1553. 

X.   To  Farel. — Misunderstanding  between  Farel  and  his 
colleague  Christopher  Fabri — Attempt  to  reconcile  them,  419 

1555. 

XI.   To  Christopher  Piperin. — Trials  and  tribulations  of 

Calvin  at  Geneva,  .....  421 

XII.    To  Count  Tarnow. — An  exhortation  strenuously  to 

promote  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Poland,  .  423 

1557. 

XIII.  To  Godfrey  Varaglia. — Exhortation  to  Martyrdom,  427 

1558. 

XIV.  To  Macar. — Congratulations  on  the  zeal  which  he  dis- 
plays at  Paris — Difl&culties  that  stand  in  the  way  of  send- 
ing off  new  ministers — Letter  of  the  king  of  Navarre — 
Divers  particulars,  .....  429 

XV.   To   Macar. —  Community   of  sufferings   between   the 

churches  of  Paris  and  Geneva — Hope  of  better  days,     .  432 

An  Historical  Calumny  refuted,  .  .  .  434 

XVI.   To  Monseigneur,  Monseigneur  du  Poet,  General 

of  Religion  in  Dauphiny,      ....  438 
XVII.   To  Monseigneur,  Monseigneur  du  Poet,  Grand 
Chamberlain  of  Navarre  and  Governor  of  the 
TOWN  of  Montelimart  at  Crest,       .  .  .  439 

XVIII.   To  A  Baron  OF  Dauphiny,    .  .  .  .441 


CALVIN'S    LETTERS. 


DXXIL— To  William  Cecil.' 

Hopes  connected  with  the  accession  of  Elizabeth.     Wishes  for  the  establishment  of 
the  pure  gospel  in  England. 

Geneva,  29th  January,  1559. 

I  SHALL  make  no  tedious  apology,  most  distinguished  sir,  for 
now  writing  to  you  familiarly,  though  personally  I  am  unknown 
to  you ;  for  relying  on  the  information  of  some  pious  individuals, 
who  have  extolled  your  courtesy,  I  trust  that  you  will  be 
naturally  disposed  to  give  a  favourable  reception  to  my  letter, 
and  especially,  when,  after  having  perused  it,  you  shall  be  aware 
of  the  motives  which  dictated  it.  Since  the  time  when,  dis- 
persing the  fearful  cloud  of  darkness  that  had  well  nigh  reduced 
to  despair  all  pious  minds,  a  new  light  has  miraculously  shone 
forth — the  fame  is  rife  that  you  are  strenuously  engaged  in 
directing  the  no  common  influence  which  you  possess  over  the 
queen,  to  scatter  the  superstitions  of  popery  which  have  over- 
shadowed your  land  for  the  last  four  years,  and  to  cause  the 

'  William  Cecil,  Baron  Burleigh,  secretary  of  state  under  Edward  VI.,  and  one  of 
the  ablest  ministers  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  He  took  a  leading  part  in  the  convocation 
of  the  Parliament,  the  promulgation  of  the  thirty-nine  articles,  and  the  adoption  of 
the  different  measures  which  re-established  the  Reformation  in  England.  He  died  in 
1598.  Informed  by  Peter  Martyr  of  the  death  of  Mary,  and  the  accession  of  a  princess 
known  for  her  attachment  to  the  Protestant  faith,  Calvin  hastened  to  offer  to  Cecil 
his  wishes  and  counsels. 

(15) 


16  WILLIAM    CECIL.  [1559. 

uncorrupted  doctrine  of  the  gospel  and  the  pure  worship  of  God 
again  to  flourish  among  you.  One  thing,  however,  I  may 
suggest,  that  what  you  are  now  doing  you  should  go  on  to  do 
with  increased  activity  and  a  constancy  which  is  not  to  be  over- 
come ;  and  that  no  vexatious  difiiculties,  struggles,  or  terrors, 
should  ever,  I  do  not  say,  defeat,  but  even  for  one  moment 
retard  your  holy  endeavours.  I  doubt  not  indeed  but  obstacles 
are  every  now  and  then  occurring,  or  that  even  dangers  openly 
menace  you,  which  Avould  damp  the  resolution  of  the  most 
courageous,  did  not  God  sustain  them  by  the  marvellous  efficacy 
of  his  Spirit.  But  this  is  a  cause  above  all  others  for  the  de- 
fence of  which  we  are  not  permitted  to  shrink  from  any  kind 
of  labour.  As  long  as  the  children  of  God  were  exposed  to 
open  and  avowed  slaughter,  you  yourself  held  your  place  along 
with  the  others.  Now  at  last  when  by  the  recent  and  unlocked 
for  blessing  of  God  greater  liberty  has  been  restored  to  them,  it 
behoves  you  to  take  heart,  so  that  if  hitherto  you  have  been 
timid,  you  may  now  make  up  for  your  deficiency  by  the  ardour 
of  your  zeal.  Not  that  I  am  ignorant  how  much  mischief  is 
sometimes  produced  by  undue  precipitation,  and  how  many  per- 
sons retard,  by  an  inconsiderate  and  headlong  zeal,  what  they 
strive  to  drag  all  at  once  to  an  issue.  But  on  the  other  hand 
you  are  bound  gravely  to  ponder — that  we  are  doing  God's 
work  when  we  assort  the  uncorrupted  truth  of  his  gospel  and 
all-holiness,  and  that  so  it  should  not  be  set  about  with  slack- 
ness. From  your  position  you  can  better  ascertain  how  much 
of  progress  it  will  be  expedient  to  make,  and  where  it  may  be 
fitting  to  adopt  a  prudent  moderation ;  still,  however,  remember 
that  all  delay,  coloured  by  whatever  specious  pretexts,  ought  to  be 
regarded  by  you  with  suspicion. 

One  thing,  which,  as  I  conjecture,  you  have  to  fear,  is  a 
popular  tumult,  since  among  the  nobles  of  the  kingdom  are  not 
wanting  many  sowers  of  sedition,  and  should  the  English  be 
torn  by  domestic  broils,  their  neighbours  are  there,  ever  on  the 
watch  to  improve  and  aggravate  every  opportunity.  Never- 
theless as  her  most  excellent  majesty,  the  queen,  has  been 
raised  to  the  throne  in  a  wonderful  manner  by  the  hand  of  God, 
she  cannot  otherwise  testify  her  gratitude  than  by  a  prompt 


1559.]  WILLIAM    CECIL.  17 

alacrity  in  shaking  off  all  obstacles  and  overcoming  by  her 
magnanimity  all  impediments.  But  since  it  is  scarcely  possible 
that  in  so  disturbed  and  confused  a  state  of  affairs,  she  should 
not,  in  the  beginning  of  her  reign,  be  distracted,  held  in  sus- 
pense by  perplexities,  and  often  forced  to  hold  a  vacillating 
course,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  advising  her  that  having 
once  entered  upon  the  right  path,  she  should  unflinchingly  per- 
severe therein.  Whether  I  have  acted  prudently  in  so  doing, 
let  others  judge.  If  by  your  co-operation  my  admonitions  shall 
bring  forth  fruit,  I  shall  not  repent  of  my  advice. 

And  do  you  also,  most  illustrious  sir,  continually  keep  in 
mind  that  you  have  been  exalted  by  providence  to  the  rank  of 
dignity  and  favour  which  you  now  occupy,  in  order  that  you 
should  give  yourself  entirely  up  to  this  task,  and  strain  every 
nerve  for  the  promotion  of  this  great  work.  And  lest  you 
should  feel  any  supineness  stealing  upon  you,  let  the  momentous- 
ness  of  these  two  things  be  ever  and  anon  presenting  themselves 
to  your  mind:  first,  that  religion  which  has  fallen  into  such 
wretched  abasement,  the  doctrine  of  salvation  which  has  been 
corrupted  by  such  execrable  errors,  the  worship  of  God  which 
has  been  so  foully  polluted,  should  recover  their  primitive  lustre, 
and  the  church  should  be  cleansed  from  her  defilements;  next, 
that  the  children  of  God  should  be  at  liberty  to  invoke  his 
name  in  purity,  and  those  who  have  been  scattered  again  assem- 
bled together. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  and  most  respected  sir.  May  the 
Lord  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  protect  you,  and  enrich  you  with 
every  blessing. 

{Calvin's  Lat.  corresp.,  Opera,  ix.  p.  113.] 
3 


18  THE   PRISONERS   OF   PARIS.  [1559. 


DXXIII.— To  THE  Prisoners  of  Paris.' 

He  apologizes  for  the  silence  which  he  has  kept  with  respect  to  them,  and  exhorts 
them  to  persevere  in  the  profession  of  the  truth. 

18th  February,  1559. 

The  love  of  God  our  Father,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  be  always  upon  you,  by  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Dearest  Brethren: — If  I  have  delayed  till  now  to  write 
to  you,  it  has  not  been  for  want  of  good  will  to  employ  myself 
in  whatever  I  might  think  calculated  to  give  you  some  consola- 
tion, or  confirm  you  more  and  more  in  that  holy  constancy  which 
God  has  bestowed  on  you ;  but  because  I  was  quite  confident 
that  our  brethren  of  your  city  acquitted  themselves  of  their  duty, 
I  did  not  think  my  letters  very  necessary  nor  greatly  desired 
by  you. 

Now  since  I  see  that  they  may  be  profitable,  I  should  con- 
sider myself  void  of  humanity  if  I  did  not  defer  to  your  request. 
True  it  is,  I  am  obliged  to  claim  your  indulgence  if  I  do  not 
satisfy  it  entirely,  nor  even  in  such  a  manner  as  I  could  wish. 
For  a  quartan  ague,  which  I  have  had  for  four  months,  and 
which  has  not  yet  left  me,  prevents  me  from  discharging  the 
third  part  of  the  aifairs  to  which  I  ought  to  give  my  attention 
if  I  were  in  better  health.  When  I  compare  the  slight  suffering 
under  which  I  pine,  which  is  almost  nothing,  with  the  afflictions 
which  oppress  you ;  when  I  reflect  also  what  succour  I  receive, 
and  on  the  contrary  how  cruelly  you  are  harassed  and  mal- 
treated, I  have  occasion  not  only  to  take  patience  and  feel 
myself  relieved,  but  to  be  moved  to  the  deepest  compassion  and 

'  In  a  note :  "  He  wrote  this  letter  to  the  three  prisoners  who  were  in  the  Concier- 
gerie  of  Paris.  One  of  them  was  named  Meric  Favre,  and  had  been  apprehended  in 
the  assembly  of  the  Rue  St.  Jacques." 

These  prisoners  were  not  put  to  death,  but  were  condemned  to  perpetual  banish- 
nient.  But  one  of  the  companions  of  their  captivity,  John  Barbeville  of  Rouen, 
perished  at  the  stake  on  the  6th  of  March,  1559.  The  flame  having  consumed  his 
bonds,  he  raised  his  hands  thus  let  loose  to  heaven;  "and  peaceably  without  any 
great  signs  of  pain,  rendered  up  his  soul  to  Go#,"  Hist,  des  Marlyri.  L.  vii. 
p.  457. 


1559.]  THE    PRISONERS    OF    PARIS.  19 

to  groan  for  the  temptations  witli  which  you  may  be  assailed — 
as  also  to  pray  our  bountiful  Father  that  he  would  mitigate 
your  sorrow  and  strengthen  you  against  assaults,  which  if  you 
find  hard  and  difficult  to  support,  be  not  surprised,  knowing 
that  the  virtue  of  our  faith  is  not  to  be  insensible,  but  to  strive 
against  our  passions;  nay  that  God  wills  us  to  feel  the  aid  of 
his  Spirit  by  our  infirmities — according  to  the  answer  given  to 
Paul.  Especially  as  your  long  imprisonment  cannot  but 
annoy,  at  the  same  time  that  it  humbles,  you  doubt  not  but  God 
bears  with  your  weakness  when  you  strive  against  it.  In  the 
meantime  invoke  him,  as  need  calls  for  it,  that  he  may  endow 
you  with  perseverance  to  lead  you  to  a  full  victory,  and  that  he 
may  fortify  you  with  those  arms  which  you  have  hitherto  proved 
to  be  sufficient  to  defeat  Satan  and  his  agents.  You  know  in 
what  strife  you  are  engaged,  it  is  that  God  may  be  glorified, 
the  truth  of  the  gospel  approved,  and  the  reign  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
exalted  in  its  dignity. 

That  should  stir  you  up  to  much  greater  efforts  than  those 
of  men  who  every  day  expose  themselves  to  death  for  the  service 
of  their  earthly  princes,  whose  silly  ambition  or  hopes  are 
animated  by  the  prospect  of  acquiring  favour  and  credit.  Now 
when  we  see  these  poor  blinded  mortals  thus  rushing  into  perils, 
we  have  wherewithal  to  contemplate  ourselves  in  the  mirror  of 
their  example,  and  not  to  lose  courage,  when  we  are  called  upon 
to  march  where  the  heavenly  King  summons  us.  Nay,  since 
he  never  sets  us  to  work  but  for  our  own  salvation,  and  our 
state  is  not  made  worse  by  our  death,  but  on  the  contrary,  if  he 
is  pleased  to  conduct  us  even  to  that  extremity,  he  converts  it 
into  a  blessing  and  a  gain  for  us.  And  in  fact  he  has  no  need 
of  us  for  his  witnesses  or  advocates  to  support  his  cause.  But 
it  is  so  much  honour  he  confers  upon  us  when  he  employs  us  in 
a  matter  so  precious  and  honourable.  For  the  rest,  take  it  for 
granted  that  though  you  are  in  the  hands  of  your  enemies  you 
are  not  the  less  for  that  under  the  protection  of  Ilim  who  has 
the  issues  of  death  in  his  hand,  as  is  said  in  the  psalms,  and  who 
has  thereby  infinite  means  of  delivering  you,  if  it  be  his  pleasure. 
But  whatever  happen — prepare  yourselves  to  make  to  him  the 
sacrifice  of  your  lives  if  he  be  pleased  to  demand  it.     And  let 


20  THE   PRISONERS    OF   PARIS.  [1559. 

not  your  zeal  be  cooled  by  the  mockeries  and  threats  of  the  un- 
godly, for  though  they  vent  their  malice  on  our  simplicity,  it 
ought  to  sufiBce  us  that  it  is  well  pleasing  to  God.  Accordingly 
laying  before  your  eyes  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  was 
assailed  by  the  like  scoffings  of  the  despisers  of  God,  put  in 
practice  what  is  taught  in  the  119th  psalm:  Let  thy  mercies 
come  also  unto  me,  even  thy  salvation  according  to  thy  word,  so 
shall  I  have  wherewith  to  answer  him  that  reproacheth  me. 
Again,  the  proud  have  had  me  greatly  in  derision,  yet  have  I 
not  declined  from  thy  law.  Again,  the  wicked  have  laid  a 
snare  for  me,  yet  I  erred  not  from  thy  precepts.  Again,  princes 
have  persecuted  me  without  a  cause;  but  my  heart  standeth  in 
awe  of  thy  word.  Again,  princes  have  sat  down  and  taken 
counsel  against  me,  and  thy  servant  has  meditated  on  thy 
statutes. 

And  learn  with  Isaiah  to  take  God  for  protector,  in  order  not 
to  be  terrified  by  the  haughtiness  and  presumption  of  those  who 
thus  vent  their  rage  against  the  heavens.  Nevertheless  fail  not 
to  practise  modesty  and  gentleness,  to  see  if  you  may  not  gain 
them  over,  not  only  to  abate  their  animosity  against  you,  and 
draw  them  to  yield  obedience  to  God.  Only  do  not  decline 
from  the  good  path  on  which  you  have  entered,  and  in  which 
you  have  continued  up  to  the  present  time ;  but  having  raised 
your  eyes  to  heaven,  aspire  to  the  palm  which  is  prepared  for 
you — to  which  end  we  pray  God  to  grant  you  his  grace,  show- 
ing himself  your  protector,  making  you  feel  it  and  giving  such 
an  issue  to  your  afflictions,  that  we  may  have  all  subject  to  bless 
his  holy  name.  My  brethren  unite  in  this  last  wish,  though  I 
trust  that  Monsieur  de  Racam '  will  write  to  you  separately. 
Your  loving  brother, 

Charles  D'Espeville. 

[Fr.  copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 

'  Or  Macar,  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  Paris,  then  at  Geneva. 


1559.]  THE   FRENCH    CHURCH   OF   FRANKFORT.  21 

DXXrV. — To  THE  French  Church  of  Frankfort.' 

Warning  on  the  subject  of  the  new  doctrines  disseminated  in  this  church. 

Geneva,  23(Z  February,  1559. 

The  love  of  God  our  Father,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  be  always  upon  you,  by  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Dearly  beloved  seigneurs  and  brethren,  though  the  long 
malady  with  which  God  afflicts  me  is  not  without  its  discomfort,^ 
and  though  the  desolation  of  the  poor  church  of  Lausanne 
torments  me  much  more  than  my  own  personal  suiferings,*  yet 
the  troubles  which  I  have  heard  that  Satan  has  anew  stirred 
up  among  you  have  not  failed  to  cause  me  a  fresh  distress  and 
anguish.  The  experience  of  the  past  ought  assuredly  to  restrain 
those  who  have  again  begun  to  break  the  unity  and  concord 
which  God  of  his  goodness  had  established  among  you.  But  if 
you  perceive  any  so  wedded  to  their  own  opinions  that  their 
ambition  and  curiosity  tend  to  the  ruin  of  the  church,  it  is  for 
you  to  apply  a  remedy.  And  if  they  are  so  obstinate  as  not  to 
yield  to  remonstrance,  you  cannot  but  apply  the  usual  remedy, 
that  of  excluding  them  from  your  society.  I  am  aware  that  in 
giving  you  advice,  I  cannot  avoid  subjecting  myself  to  the 
accusation  of  undertaking  too  much,  instead  of  confining  myself 
to  the  duties  of  my  charge,  without  wishing  to  extend  my 
direction  so  far.     But  it  is  enough  for  me  to  have  God  for  my 

'  Long  a  prey  to  intestine  strife  and  divisions,  this  church  was  threatened  with  new 
perils,  by  the  invasion  of  mystical  and  Anabaptist  doctrines,  the  contagion  of  which 
had  spread  rapidly  over  some  of  the  Reformed  churches  of  Germany. 

"  "  The  year  1559,  (Calvin)  was  attacked  by  a  long  and  severe  tertian  ague,  during 
which  he  was  forced  to  his  great  regret  to  abstain  from  reading  and  preaching.  .  . 
This  disease  left  him  in  such  a  state  of  debility,  that  he  never  afterwards  recovered 
his  full  strength."     Beza,  Vita  Calvtni. 

'  The  deposition  of  the  minister  Viret  by  the  Seigneurs  of  Berne  (20th  January, 
1559)  was  succeeded  by  the  abdication  of  forty  of  his  colleagues,  who  like  him  had  in 
vain  called  for  the  establishment  of  an  ecclesiastical  discipline.  Ruchat.  Hiti.  de  la 
Tit/.,  T.  vi.  p.  256,  and  the  following.  Among  the  ministers  who  threw  up  their 
charges,  were  Theodore  Beza,  Raymond  Merlin,  Berault,  who  became  the  ornameota 
of  the  new  Academy  of  Geneva. 


22  THE    FRENCH    CHURCH    OF    FRANKFORT.  [1559. 

witness  that  the  love  which  I  bear  towards  you  and  the  zeal 
which  I  have  for  your  salvation  excite  and  constrain  me,  and 
to  my  own  great  regret  too,  to  interfere  in  your  affairs.  I  am 
also  persuaded  that  most  (I  might  venture  to  say  all)  of  you  are 
convinced  of  it,  though  some  who  are  vexed  when  good  is  done, 
murmur  at  what  they  themselves  feel  to  be  proper  and  useful. 

Nevertheless  I  had  rather  hope,  when  all  shall  see  that  my 
efforts  tend  to  unite  what  has  been  dispersed  without  offend- 
ing any,  that  there  will  not  be  a  single  individual  who  will  not 
feel  obliged  to  me  for  having  busied  myself  on  this  occasion.  I 
entreat  you  then,  my  brethren,  let  me  have  wherewithal  to  re- 
joice, and  console  me  for  my  other  afflictions,  on  learning  that 
my  letters  shall  have  been  profitable  to  you  and  contributed  to 
bring  you  to  a  good  intelligence.  The  greatest  misfortune  is 
that  even  your  two  pastors  are  at  variance,^  for  if  parties  and 
contentions  among  private  persons  are  a  plague  in  the  church, 
what  must  it  be  when  the  messengers  of  peace  are  at  war  ?  And 
it  is  for  that  reason  we  should  lose  no  time  in  applying  a  remedy, 
for  fear,  the  evil  having  gained  head,  we  come  too  late  to  correct 
it.  If  Paul  deigned  to  take  upon  himself  the  task  of  recon- 
ciling women,  and  has  on  that  subject  written  to  the  whole  church 
of  the  Philippians,  inasmuch  as  they  had  laboured  along  with 
him  for  the  gospel,  how  much  more,  if  there  be  a  difference 
among  pastors,  whose  office  it  is  to  settle  all  quarrels,  should 
every  one  strive  to  bring  succour,  as  if  we  had  to  extinguish  a 
fire  which  might  consume  everything? 

However,  I  pretend  not  to  judge  the  point  at  issue,  except 
with  regard  to  some  pamphlets  which  certain  persons  have 
wished  to  introduce  or  to  approve  of,  I  mean  the  Gferman 
Theology— and   concerning  the  New  Man.'^     Eespecting    that 

'  Francis  Perucel  and  William  Olbrac.  The  latter  was  then  on  the  point  of  quitting 
Frankfort  to  go  to  Strasbourg.  These  two  ministers  were  at  variance  respecting  the 
Lord's  supper. 

*Ib  it  the  work  entitled,  "  Theologia  Germnnica,  libellus  aureus,  quomodo  sit  ex- 
uendus  vetus  homo,  induendusque  novus,  ex  Germanico  anonymi  equitis  Teutonici, 
translatus  studio  Johannis  Theophili,"  Basilefe,  1557,  translated  from  Latin  into  French 
with  this  title  :  "  German  Theology,  a  treatise  in  which  is  handled  how  to  put  off  the 
old  man,  and  put  on  the  new  man,"  Antwerp,  1558,  8vo?— A  remarkable  monument  of 
the  aneient  German  mysticism,  published  by  Luther,  translated  by  Castalio;  this  book 
might  oflend  the  rigid  orthodoxy  of  Calvin,  but  not  incur  the  censure  of  the  Lutheraa 


1559.]  AUGUSTIN    LEGRANT.  23 

subject,  if  I  have  ever  attained  any  knowledge  or  proper  appre- 
ciation of  the  word  of  God — I  could  have  desired  that  the 
authors  had  abstained  from  handling  it.  For  the  work  contains 
no  notable  errors,  yet  there  are  in  it  conceits  contrived  by  the 
craft  of  Satan  to  perplex  all  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel.  And 
if  you  look  into  it  more  narrowly,  you  will  find  there  a  hidden 
and  mortal  venom  fit  to  poison  the  church.  Wherefore  my 
brethren,  above  all  things  I  pray  and  exhort  you  in  the  name 
of  God  to  shun  like  a  pestilence  all  those  who  shall  endeavour 
to  infect  you  with  such  trash.  I  entreat  those  also  who  up  to 
this  moment  have  given  heed  to  it,  to  be  better  advised  and  no 
longer  to  feed  the  evil  which  they  shall  be  unable  to  remedy 
when  they  will.  Meanwhile  strive  towards  this  end  that  your 
pastors  be  united  in  good  brotherhood  to  do  their  duty.  Beware 
of  all  contention  which  should  break  the  bonds  of  peace  and  in- 
crease the  dispersion  of  which  the  evil  beginnings  are  already 
but  too  visible.  Whereupon  1  pray  our  heavenly  Father  to  give 
you  counsel  and  prudence,  to  mortify  all  disorderly  passions ; 
and  in  general  to  have  you  in  his  keeping,  to  fortify  you  with 
his  invincible  power,  and  to  prevent  what  he  has  built  up  in  you 
from  falling  into  ruin.  My  brethren  greet  you,  and  I  especially 
desire  to  be  commended  to  your  fervent  prayers. 
[Fr.  copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DXXV. — To  AuGUSTiN  Legrant.' 

Severe  admonitions. 

Geneva,  23d  February,  1559. 

Seigneur  Augustin  : — I  am  truly  grieved  because  of  the  af- 
fection I  entertain  for  you  to  hear  such  painful  news  of  you,  and 

magistrates  of  Frankfort.  Is  it  not  more  likely  that  the  writing  in  question,  the 
publication  of  which  occasioned  new  troubles  in  the  French  Church  of  Frankfort,  was 
the  mystical  and  Anabaptist  work  of  the  physician  Vadius,  entitled  according  to 
some  :  "  Summary  of  Christian  Doctrine  and  Life;"  according  to  others:  Treatise 
touching  the  manner  and  way  of  human  life,  or  respecting  the  beatitudes  of  man. 
See  Bayle,  art.  Vehius,  and  Lutheran  Documents  of  the  Church  of  Frankfort. 

•Augustin  Legrant,  one  of  the  elders  of  the  French  Church  of  Frankfort.     Ho 
began  to  sign  in  this  capacity  the  registers  of  this  church,  on  the  last  of  February 


24  AUQUSTIN   LEGRANT.  [1559. 

Still  more  to  be  obliged  to  write  to  you  in  harsher  terms  than  I 
could  wish.  Though  I  have  perceived  in  you  too  great  an  im- 
petuosity of  mind,  and  outbreaks  that  I  could  well  have  desired 
to  have  been  moderated  and  kept  down,  nevertheless  I  should 
never  have  expected  so  much  thoughtlessness  on  your  part  as 
you  have  shown,  in  going  to  seek  for  the  deceptions  of  the  devil 
in  that  accursed  school  which  is  calculated  to  annihilate  all  re- 
ligion, inducing  men  by  crooked  ways  to  give  themselves  in  the 
end  a  license  to  turn  God  and  all  religion  into  derision.  Expe- 
rience shows  how  much  you  have  profited  in  it  by  your  spread- 
ing about  vain  conceits  full  of  mortal  venom,  which  is  of  itself 
too  great  an  evil,  but  which,  moreover,  has  been  the  occasion 
of  sowing  dissensions  in  that  poor  church  that  has  been  so 
violently  torn,  that  it  will  be  possible  to  restore  it  only  by  little 
and  little.  You  were  already  reminded  of  that,  and  have  only 
shown  yourself  so  much  the  more  thoughtless — precisely  like 
Saul  when  he  had  recourse  to  the  sorceress. 

Reflect  on  this  saying:  Woe  to  him  by  whom  scandal  cometh. 
I  spare  you  not  in  order  that  God  may  spare  you.  And  in 
truth  I  desire  to  make  you  feel  the  enormity  of  your  fault,  in 
order  that  you  may  be  the  more  disposed  to  submit  with  a  will- 
ing mind  to  the  remedy — which  is,  that  forsaking  these  incon- 
siderate levities  to  which  you  have  given  too  much  way,  you  re- 
turn peaceably  to  the  fold,  and  testify  that  it  is  not  your  fault 
if  there  is  not  good  concord.  When  you  shall  do  this,  be  per- 
suaded that  all  those  who  loved  you  heretofore  will  have  the 
sweet  satisfaction  of  loving  you  more  than  ever.  For  myself  in 
particular,  if  I  receive  these  welcome  news,  preserving  no  recol- 
lection of  what  our  heavenly  Father  shall  have  buried  in  oblivion, 
I  shall  cherish  you  more  than  before,  and  shall  have  the 
weight  of  my  sorrow  diminished.  Wherefore  I  will  pray  God 
to  direct  you  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  bless  you  along  with  your 
family. 

[Fr.  copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 

1558.  The  adversary  of  Valeran  Poulain,  he  had  disputes  with  this  minister  which 
terminated  but  with  the  death  of  the  latter,  in  1557  ;  a  partisan  of  the  new  theology, 
he  drew  upon  himself  the  censure  of  Calvin,  who  no  doubt  had  known  him  at  Frank- 
fort. 


1559.]  MARTIN   MICRONIUS.  25 


DXXVI.— To  Martin  Micronius.' 

Progress  of  the  Reformation  in  Sweden — Tlie  dispatch  of  a  writing — News  of  GeneTa 

and  Lausanne. 

Geneva,  22d  Fehruary,  1559. 

If  I  but  seldom  write  to  you,  my  dear  brother,  I  am  per- 
suaded that  you  do  not  take  it  amiss,  for  should  I  send  you  a 
letter,  most  of  the  charm  arising  from  it  would  be  dissipated  in 
consequence  of  the  distance  which  separates  us,  or  rather  the 
letter  itself  would  be  lost  on  the  road.  Just  as  it  happened  to 
the  one  containing  a  refutation  of  the  ravings  of  Memnon,^ 
which  you  declare  never  reached  you ;  and  yet  the  brethren 
of  Frankfort  had  promised  to  deliver  it  to  a  trust-worthy  mes- 
senger. At  present  I  do  not  send  you  one  of  mere  compli- 
ments ;  for  I  have  a  commission  to  charge  you  with,^  one,  how- 
ever, which  I  trust  you  will  find  neither  troublesome  nor  dis- 
agreeable— for  it  will  not  put  you  to  much  inconvenience  to 
present  or  to  cause  to  be  sent  to  a  pastor  who  is  a  neighbour  of 
yours  a  letter  which  I  am  now  writing  to  him. 

My  second  request  is  rather  more  difficult  to  comply  with. 
It  is  that  you  would  contrive  to  communicate  to  Philipperius, 
the  contents  of  the  letter  I  now  address  to  yourself.  For  though 
I  am  afraid  you  have  but  few  opportunities  of  sending  into 
Sweden,  yet  I  fancy  Philipperius  at  his  departure  must  have 
taken  steps  for  establishing  some  communication  backwards  and 
foi'wards  between  you.  I  have  not  hesitated  to  have  recourse  to 
your  co-operation  and  kindness  to  obtain  what  I  so  greatly  de- 
sire. 

I  have  been  requested  by  a  certain  Frenchman  resident  in 
Sweden  (whose    name    has   escaped   my  memory,  for    I    have 

'  Expelled  from  London  along  with  the  congregation  of  foreign  Protestants,  on  the 
accession  of  Mary,  rejected  from  Wismar  by  the  intolerance  of  the  Lutheran  clergy, 
Micronius,  after  having  long  wandered  in  the  north  of  Germany,  had  become  pastor 
of  the  Church  of  Norden,  in  the  present  Hanover. 

"  The  Memnonite  heresy,  spread  over  the  north  of  the  Netherlands,  renewed  the 
ancient  errors  of  Eutyches  respecting  the  humanity  of  Christ. 

*See  the  following  letter, 

4 


26  MARTIN   MICRONIUS.  [1559. 

mislaid  his  letter,  I  do  not  know  how)  if  I  had  anything  in 
hand  that  I  should  dedicate  it  to  the  king  of  the  Swedes,  and 
especially  for  the  sake  of  his  son,  whom  he  asserts  to  be  ani- 
mated by  a  wonderful  spirit  of  piety,  that  by  this  incitement  he 
may  be  still  more  stirred  up. 

I  have  been  induced  by  these  reasons  to  comply  with  his  re- 
quest. But  as  I  have  no  means  of  sending  copies  of  the  books, 
I  inform  Philipperius  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  and 
give  him  this  commission — that  having  procured  one  copy  he 
may  offer  it  to  the  king.  It  is  of  great  importance  indeed  that 
a  goodly  quantity  of  copies  should  be  dispatched  there,  because 
in  a  nation  so  remote,  the  name  of  the  king  would  prepare  a 
favourable  reception  for  the  orthodox  doctrine.  And  this  was 
my  principal  motive.  In  the  meantime,  it  would  not  be  polite 
to  neglect  to  let  the  king  know  how  much  his  conduct  is  ap- 
proved of  by  all  the  children  of  God  even  at  a  distance,  in  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  pure  religion  in  his  dominions ;  and  above 
all  it  were  well  that  his  son,  who  is  everywhere  spoken  of  as  a 
most  prudent  prince,  should  be  more  and  more  animated  by  the 
prayers  of  the  pious  to  persevere  in  his  activity. 

Of  the  state  of  our  affairs  I  scarcely  dare  to  speak.  Our 
city  tranquil  in  the  interior  is  cruelly  harassed  by  its  neighbours. 
I  do  not  speak  of  the  two  monarchs  between  whom  peace  can 
scarcely  be  confirmed  except  by  our  ruin,  and  thus  as  far  as 
they  are  concerned  we  are  daily  marked  out  for  destruction.^ 
But  our  allies  who  hesitate  to  protect  and  defend  us  are  deterred 
by  no  considerations  of  alliance  or  ties  of  a  common  religion 
from  proceeding  to  all  extremities  against  us.  Nor  is  it  slir- 
prising  that  they  should  act  with  such  hostility  towards  us  when 
at  home  they  have  plunged  everything  into  confusion. 

Because  Viret  was  rather  more  urgent  than  they  wished  in 
exacting  discipline,  they  have  deposed  him  and  two  of  his  col- 
leagues from  the  ministry,  and  not  content  Avith  this  they  have 
pronounced  against  him  a  sentence  of  banishment.     He  is  re- 

'  The  month  of  June  this  year,  the  monarchs  of  France  and  of  Spain  being  recon- 
ciled conspired  the  destruction  of  the  seat  of  heresy  at  Geneva.  An  expeditioa 
against  this  city  resolved  upon  by  common  consent,  and  commanded  by  the  Duke  of 
Alba,  was  prevented  only  by  the  sudden  death  of  Henry  II. 


1559.]  THE    PRINCE    ROYAL    OF    SWEDEN.  27 

tained  only  till  he  promise  upon  oath  that  he  -will  submit  to 
their  decision.  Thirty-two  have  been  summoned  that  they  may 
undergo  to-day  at  Berne  the  same  judgment.  Beza  has  acted 
more  wisely,  who  has  spontaneously  anticipated  their  decision. 
A  great  many  terrified  by  this  barbarous  conduct  will  follow  his 
example.  The  dispersion  of  that  church  is  a  sad  and  horrible 
thing.  But  so  it  behoved  matters  to  turn  out,  that  at  length 
the  cloud  of  darkness  being  dissipated,  God  might  bring  us  some 
light. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  brother,  salute  all  our  friends  in  my 
name.  May  the  Lord  preserve  you  all  in  safety,  govern  you 
by  his  Spirit,  strengthen  you  with  fortitude,  and  bestow  on  you 
his  blessing. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Zurich,  Simler.     Vol.  94.] 


■         DXXVII. — To  THE  Prince  Royal  of  Sweden.' 

Dedication  of  a  writing  to  Gustavus  Wasa. 

Geneva,  26<^  February,  1559. 

If  any  one  should  tax  me  with  temerity,  most  excellent  and 
noble  king,  for  having  taken  the  liberty  of  dedicating  a  public 
work  to  your  father,  the  same  person  will  most  probably  con- 
ceive that  I  have  doubled  my  fault  in  not  hesitating  privately 
to  address  your  majesty  in  the  present  letter,  just  as  if  an  hum- 
ble individual  were  permitted  to  hold  familiar  intercourse  with 
you.     I  expect,  however,  a  much  more  indulgent  judgment  from 

'  Eric  (XIV.  of  that  name),  appointed  King  of  Sweden  during  the  lifetime  of  his 
father,  Gustavus  Wasa,  did  not  merit  the  eulogiums  which  Calvin  had  publicly  be- 
Btowed  on  his  taste  for  letters  and  his  piety.  See  on  this  subject  the  preface  to  the 
Commentary  on  Hosea  dedicated  by  Calvin  to  Gustavus  Wasa.  In  praising  Eric,  the 
Reformer  pays  the  most  splendid  and  merited  homage  to  his  father  : 

"  Y'ou  need  not  be  surprised,  most  noble  king,  that  a  homage  is  paid  to  your 
majesty  from  so  distant  a  country  and  by  a  person  almost  unknown  to  you,  who  on 
account  of  the  distinguished  and  heroic  gifts  both  of  mind  and  body  in  which  ho  has 
understood  that  you  abound,  professes  himself  entirely  devoted  to  you." 

Gustavus  Wasa  having  died  the  29th  of  September,  1560,  Eric  succeeded  him,  was 
di-iveu  from  the  throne  in  156S,  and  perished  by  a  violent  death  in  1577. 


28  THE    PRINCE    ROYAL    OF    SWEDEN.  [1559. 

your  well-known  urbanity  which  is  so  loudly  commended.  And 
to  confess  frankly  the  truth,  relying  most  confidently  on  your 
patronage,  I  have  set  my  heart  on  this  dedication,  which  should 
serve  as  a  token  of  the  profound  respect  I  entertain  for 
all  your  royal  house,  but  above  all  that  I  might  associate 
with  the  heroic  virtues  of  your  father,  and  inscribe  on  my 
work, your  name  as  in  due  time  to  be  the  heir  to  them.  For  I 
have  learned  from  two  countrymen  of  mine  who  have  been  pro- 
tected by  you  and  are  in  your  service,  what  distinguished  favour 
you  have  shown  them  as  professors  of  polite  letters,  which  favour 
you  also  extend  to  all  those  who  have  faithfully  bestowed  their 
labours  in  purging  the  doctrine  of  pure  and  uncorrupted  piety 
from  shameful  superstitions  and  barbarous  ignorance ;  and  that 
I  was  also  deemed  by  your  majesty  a  labourer  in  this  work. 
What  talents  I  have  brought  to  this  task  in  order  that  my  labour 
should  not  prove  unsuccessful,  it  is  not  for  me  to  judge.  But  as 
I  have  an  entire  conviction  that  in  my  studies  I  proposed  to 
myself  no  other  end  than  to  cause  the  uncorrupted  worship  of 
God  to  flourish,  and  that  the  doctrine  which  is  from  heaven 
being  restored  to  its  original  purity  should  obtain  in  the  world 
that  reverence  to  which  it  is  entitled,  I  willingly  accept  your 
judgment  on  that  point.  It  is  for  that  reason  I  have  not 
feared  to  beg  of  your  majesty  in  this  letter  not  only  favourably 
to  accept  the  homage  I  now  respectfully  tender  you,  but  also  to 
interest  your  father  in  behalf  of  my  book,  that  its  utility  sanc- 
tioned by  such  authority  may  be  more  widely  disseminated. 
For  ambition  has  not  engaged  me  to  grace  my  book  with  your 
illustrious  names,  but  my  desire  was  that  my  labour  should  give 
an  additional  impulse  to  those  already  disposed  of  their  own 
accord  to  run  tlie  good  race,  and  that  it  might  be  profitable  at 
the  same  time  to  the  men  of  your  nation.  Farewell,  most  ex- 
cellent and  noble  prince.  May  the  Lord  long  preserve  your 
majesty  in  safety  and  prosperity,  govern  you  by  the  spirit  of 
wisdom,  fortitude,  and  equity,  and  enrich  you  more  and  more 
with  every  excellent  gift.     Amen. 

Your  most  devoted, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


1559.]  MADAME   DE    COLIGNY.  29 

DXXVIIL— To  Farel.' 

Dispersion  of  the  Churches  of  the  Pays  do  Vaud. 

Geneva,  26th  February,  1559. 

Since  you  passed  through  this  country,  my  dear  N ,  the  sad 

dispersion  of  the  Church  of  Lausanne  has  taken  place.  When 
Viret  was  not  to  be  shaken  from  his  purpose,  he  was  deposed 
from  his  oflfice  along  with  two  of  his  colleagues.  As  the  whole 
class  associated  themselves  with  his  cause,  they  were  confined  in 
the  citadel.  Afterwards  having  pledged  their  faith  to  appear 
before  the  tribunal  they  were  set  at  liberty.  They  are  now  ex- 
pecting the  sentence  which  is  to  send  them  into  exile,  to  such  a 
degree  has  been  carried  the  rage  of  those  whom  God  has  struck 
with  a  spirit  of  giddiness.  Though  all  the  godly  are  now  in 
sorrow  and  mourning,  the  wicked  wantonly  insult  Christ  and 
his  faithful  followers.  Nevertheless  God,  who  is  wont  to  make 
light  to  arise  out  of  darkness,  will  bring  round  a  more  favour- 
able issue.  With  regard  to  myself,  I  have  been  now  for  upwards 
of  four  months  suiSering  from  a  quartan  ague  which  has  kept 
rae  hitherto  confined  to  my  bed-room,  because  my  body  is  ema- 
ciated and  my  physical  strength  exhausted.  At  present  a  slight 
relaxation  in  my  complaint  gives  me  some  hopes  of  a  return  of 
health.     Again,  farewell. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DXXIX. — To  Madame  de  Coligny.* 

False  tidings  of  the  deliverance  of  the  Admiral.     Consolations  on  that  subject. 

Geneva,  21th  February,  1559. 

Madame  : — The  common  rumour  respecting  the  deliverance 
of  Monseigneur  gave  us  a  momentary  joy  which  has  only  en- 
hanced our  regret  at  learning  so  shortly  after  that  we  have  been 

'  Without  an  address.  This  letter  seems  written  to  Farel  who  had  just  undertaken 
a  new  journey  for  spreading  the  gospel  at  Metz. 

'  Transferred  from  the  Castle  of  I'Ecluse  to  the  Castle  of  Gaud,  the  Admiral  still 
continued  the  captive  of  the  Spaniards.  He  did  not  recover  his  liberty  before  the 
month  of  April,  1659,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Cateau-Cambrosis. 


30  MADAME    DE    COLIGNY.  [1559. 

disappointed  in  our  desire  and  opinion.  But  though  matters  have 
not  fallen  out  according  to  our  wishes,  nevertheless  it  is  your 
duty  to  put  in  practice  what  the  Scriptures  teach  us  of  the  long 
expectations  of  faith,  and  that  the  patience  enjoined  us  is  not  that 
of  a  year  or  two's  duration,  but  that  we  are  called  upon  to  keep 
our  affections  in  suspense  till  the  favourable  opportunity  come 
round;  and  continually  I  have  recourse  to  Him  to  whom  it  be- 
longs to  determine  it,  praying  him  to  hear  our  requests,  support 
our  infirmities,  and  for  the  time  that  it  will  please  him  to  let  us 
languish,  to  fortify  our  constancy.  The  main  point  is  that  we 
should  make  it  the  business  of  our  lives  to  acquiesce  in  all  sub- 
missiveness  and  humility  to  his  good  pleasure,  for  that  supposes 
that  he  should  have  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  us,  that  we  should 
be  captive  to  his  obedience,  and  should  even  make  to  him  a 
voluntary  sacrifice,  to  die  and  live  according  as  he  shall  be 
pleased  to  dispose  of  us.  Moreover  this  affliction  is  not  so 
severe  as  to  preclude  you  from  many  sources  of  consolation, 
with  which  to  remain  contented  till  his  return.  At  the  same 
time,  Madame,  I  entreat  you  to  be  prepared  to  hold  out  against 
the  alarms  that  may  then  be  got  up  against  you.  For  however 
excellent  may  be  his  inclination  to  dedicate  himself  to  God, 
I  fear  whether  he  will  be  able  to  remain  unshaken  by  the 
murmurs  and  threats  of  his  uncle,'  or  the  solicitation  of  his 
brother.^  Reflect  also  that  it  is  your  duty  by  your  example 
to  aid  him  in  taking  courage.  On  our  part  we  will  pray 
God  to  endow  him  with  greater  magnanimity  than  that  of 
him  who  had  begun  so  well,  but  who  did  not  continue  in 
the  same  manner.^     Nevertheless  whatever  diflficulties  we  may 

'  The  Constable,  Anne  de  Montmorency,  a  zealous  Catholic  and  the  avowed  enemy 
of  the  Huguenots.  A  member  of  the  trumvirate  in  1561,  he  signalized  himself  by  tho 
havoc  he  committed  in  the  preaching  assemblies  of  Paris,  and  so  acquired  the  nick- 
name of  Captain  Brule-hanc  (Bench-burner.)  He  was  made  prisoner  at  the  battle 
of  Dreux  in  1563,  and  was  slain  in  1567  at  the  battle  of  St.  Denis. 

"  Odet  de  Coligny,  Cardinal  of  Chatillon.  He  had  not  yet  pronounced  in  favour 
of  the  Reformation, 

3  Allusion  to  d'Andelot.  See  the  letter,  vol.  iii.,  p.  450.  Reprimanded  by  the  minis- 
ters of  Paris,  d'Andelot  acknowledged  his  fault  and  promised  to  amend  it: — "Never- 
theless admonished  by  our  brother  Gaspar  he  did  not  long  defend  his  cause,  but  sorrow- 
ing ingenuously  confessed  it,  and  said  that  he  would  henceforth  strive  openly  to 
worship  God."— Franfois  de  Morel  a  Calvin,  27th  December,  1558.     (MSS.  of  Gotba.) 


1559.]  PETER    MARTYR.  31 

have  to  encounter,  the  promise  given  us  that  God  will  pro- 
vide for  every  thing  and  find  out  a  remedy  ought  to  suffice 
to  prevent  us  from  yielding  to  temptation,  and  teach  us  to  think 
more  wisely,  fixing  our  hearts  upon  that  life  which  is  in  heaven, 
§0  that  the  world  shall  seem  nothing  to  us,  at  least  that  we  shall 
pass  through  it  as  pilgrims  and  strangers,  having  this  maxim 
continually  engraven  on  our  memories — that  we  must  be  con- 
formed to  our  Lord  Jesus  in  his  afflictions,  if  we  would  be  par- 
takers of  his  glory. 

Whereupon,  Madame,  having  humbly  commended  me  to  your 
kind  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you 
in  his  keeping,  to  increase  in  you  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit,  to  sup- 
port you  by  his  power,  and  grant  you  the  grace  to  persevere  in 
serving  and  honouring  him  to  the  end. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DXXX.— To  Peter  Martyr. 

Calvin's  illness — Death  of  Lactanzio  Ragnone — Troubles  of  the  Italian  Church. 

Geneva,  2>td  Ilarch,  1559. 

Respecting  myself,  most  accomplished  sir  and  respected 
brother,  I  have  nothing  to  write,  except  that  the  violence  of  my 
fever  has  abated.  But  my  bodily  strength  as  well  as  my  vigour 
of  mind  has  been  so  much  shattered  that  I  do  not  seem  greatly 
relieved  by  this  mitigation.  Nay,  I  even  feel  a  greater  degree 
of  lassitude  than  when  I  had  to  struggle  against  more  violent 
attacks.  The  debility  of  my  stomach  is  especially  a  cause  of 
suffering  to  me,  and  it  is  increased  by  a  catarrh  which  brings 
along  with  it  its  accompaniment  a  cough.  For  as  vapours 
arising  from  indigestion  trouble  my  brain,  the  evil  reacts  in  its 
turn  upon  my  lungs.  To  all  this  has  been  added  for  the  last 
eight  days  a  pain  occasioned  by  hemorrhoids  from  which  it  is 
not  possible  to  force  the  blood,  as  they  are  of  that  kind  which 
are  commonly  termed  blind.  If  any  dependence  is  to  be  placed 
on  the  order  of  the  seasons,  the  only  remaining  hope  I  have  lies 


32  PETER    MARTYR.  [1559. 

in  the  near  approach  of  spring,  but  the  Lord  in  whose  hand  are 
life  and  death  will  direct  the  issue. 

Of  the  death  of  our  most  excellent  brother  Lactanzio,' 
others  have  no  doubt  written  to  you,  and  it  is  with  reluctance 
that  I  awaken  a  sorrowful  recollection.  In  him  the  Italian 
church  has  certainly  sustained  no  common  loss,  but  what  is 
worse,  I  fear  that  God  will  avenge  the  ingratitude  and  arrogance 
of  certain  persons  by  the  diflSculty  of  finding  a  good  and  fitting 
pastor.  You  would  hardly  believe  with  what  unworthy  con- 
tempt he  was  treated,  and  how  little  account  was  made  of  those 
remarkable  virtues  which  made  him  an  object  of  well  merited 
respect  among  all  right  minded  persons ;  and  though  I  have 
sternly  and  openly  denounced  them  with  the  punishment  which 
they  have  deserved,  yet  I  wish  to  have  the  benefit  of  your  as- 
sistance and  counsels  lest  the  goodly  structure  which  God  has 
built  up  should  fall  to  ruin.  Another  wound  has  been  inflicted 
by  one  Sylvester,  whose  name  probably  is  not  unknown  to  you ; 
for  he  lived  in  England,  and  is  1  believe  a  countryman  of  your 
own.  Since  he  had  given  many  indications  that  he  had  par- 
ticipated in  the  impiety  of  George,  and  as  he  had  been  rather 
roughly  handled  by  Simon  the  catechist  of  the  church  who  had 
exposed  his  perfidy,  he  turned  round  on  Simon  and  accused  him 
of  a  disgraceful  and  abominable  crime.  At  last  we  discovered 
that  boys  had  been  suborned  by  him  to  bear  false  witness.  He 
himself  absconded.  One  of  the  witnesses  in  the  case  who  had 
obstinately  persisted  in  his  false  testimony  was  banished.  Simon 
was  acquitted  in  presence  of  the  Italian  congregation  by  our 
sentence  and  that  of  the  elders,  but  only  of  what  related  to  the 
infamous  charge  brought  against  him ;  for  he  was  censured  for 
not  having  maintained  the  dignity  becoming  a  minister,  and  also 
because  he  had  positively  denied  all  the  things  laid  to  his  charge, 
some  of  which  were  nevertheless  true,  though  not  involving  a 
grave  accusation.  How  atrociously  the  Bernese  have  vented 
their  rage  and  fulminated  against  the  poor  brethren,  as  it  pains 
me  to  hear  it,  I  shall  not  write  to  you  concerning  it.     It  is 

'  Lactanzio  Ragnone  of  Sienna,  third  minister  of  the  Italian  Church  of  Geneva. 
He  succeeded,  the  24th  October,  1557,  the  Count  Celso  Martinengo,  and  died  on  the 
16th  February,  1659. 


1559.]  JEROME    ZANCIir.  33 

better  that  the  whole  matter  "with  all  its  circumstances  should  be 
explained  to  you,  which  it  will  be  I  trust  ere  long.  Other  de- 
tails you  will  learn  from  our  excellent  brother,  who  in  returning 
to  his  own  country  has  resolved  to  take  your  town  in  his  way 
for  the  purpose  of  visiting  you. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir.  May  the  Lord  extend  his 
protection  to  you  and  all  your  colleagues,  govern  you  with  his 
Spirit  and  enrich  you  with  his  blessings.     Amen. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

\^Lat.  Copy. — Lihrary  of  Paris,  Dupuy,  102.] 


DXXXI.— To  Jerome  Zanchi.^ 

Call  to  the  ministry  in  the  Church  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  Hth  March,  1559. 

I  suppose  the  tidings  of  the  death  of  our  most  excellent 
brother  have  already  reached  you,  and  I  am  convinced  they 
have  produced  the  same  feelings  of  regret  as  among  us.  As- 
suredly the  Italian  church  has  sustained  no  ordinary  loss, 
towards  which  he  strove  to  pei'form  all  the  duties  which  can  be 
desired  of  a  faithful  and  active  pastor.  And  now  that  you 
have  been  elected  his  successor  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people, 
see  that  you  do  not  disappoint  the  wishes  of  your  countrymen, 
and  abandon  an  unhappy  flock  in  its  utmost  need.  I  know  and 
remember  the  numerous  objections  which  you  formerly  repre- 
sented to  me  when  at  the  request  of  all  I  tendered  you  a  call. 
At  that  time  I  was  unwilling  to  press  you  too  earnestly,  lest  in 
forcing  your  inclinations   I  should  consult  neither  your  own 

•Jerome  Zanchi  of  Bergamo,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  disciples  of  Peter 
Martyr,  quitted  Italy  in  1543,  in  order  to  retire  to  Switzerland,  and  merited  by  his 
learned  writings  to  be  classed  in  the  first  rank  among  the  theologians  of  the  Italian 
emigration.  Appointed  in  1563  professor  in  the  school  of  Theology  at  Strasbourg, 
from  which  the  ultra  Lutheran  intolerance  represented  by  the  minister  Marbaeh  was 
to  drive  him  ten  years  later,  he  beame  successively  professor  at  Chiavenna  and  at 
Heidelberg.  He  died  in  the  latter  city  in  1570.  Melchior  Adam,  Vxl<x  Thculoyorum 
Exterorum,  p.  77,  and  Gerdes,  Specimen  Ilalice  Reformata,  p.  351. 

5 


34  JEKOME    ZANCHI.  [1559. 

private  interests  nor  the  public  advantages  of  the  church.     At 
present,  in  my  judgment,  the  case  is  altogether  different. 

A  flock  bereaved  of  its  pastor  and  unable  to  find  elsewhere  a 
person  fitted  for  the  discharge  of  the  pastoral  functions,  makes 
an  appeal  to  your  fidelity.  Unless  they  be  speedily  succoured, 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  a  dispersion  will  take  place,  which  would 
be  to  us  matter  of  the  deepest  distress.  Satan  is  watching 
his  opportunity,  and  unless  there  be  some  extraordinary  authority 
to  restrain  certain  individuals,  their  perverseness  will  speedily 
break  out.  How  fruitful  your  present  labours  are  I  have  no 
means  of  knowing,  except  that  with  great  sorrow  I  have  heard 
that  your  auditory  is  thin  and  almost  deserted.  If  this  is  the 
case,  it  is  not  the  consideration  of  public  utility  which  will  make 
you  hesitate,  and  we  are  thoroughly  convinced  that  you  are 
swayed  by  no  regard  to  private  interest  or  your  own  ease  and  in- 
dulgence. So  much  more  urgent  are  the  motives  and  binding 
the  obligation,  which  should  decide  you  on  taking  such  steps  as 
may  correspond  to  the  high  confidence  reposed  in  you  by  your 
countrymen. 

I  am  aware  that  you  are  not  at  liberty  to  abandon  your  pre- 
sent position  till  you  be  relieved  from  the  tie  which  binds  you 
to  it,  but  the  whole  deliberation  turns  on  this  point,  if  your 
labours,  where  you  now  are,  are  sterile,  and  if  here  an  abundant 
harvest  awaits  them,  which  is  the  most  forcible  tie,  the  one  by 
which  God  draws  you  hither,  or  the  one  that  detains  you  there  ? 
When  once  you  shall  have  yielded  to  this  consideration,  you  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  your  discharge,  nor  is  the  neces- 
sity of  soliciting  it  imposed  on  you,  for  our  senate  will  petition 
yours  to  grant  you  permission  to  establish  yourself  here.  If 
then  your  intention  be  to  bring  succour  to  an  afflicted  church, 
remember  the  old  proverb :  He  gives  twice  who  gives  speedily. 

Farewell,  most  distinguished  sir  and  respected  brother.  May 
the  Lord  govern  you  in  this  deliberation  by  his  Spirit,  stand 
always  by  you,  keep  you  in  safety  and  bless  you. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


1559.]  FKANCIS   BOISNORMAND.  35 


DXXXII, — To  Francis  Boisnormand.^ 

Regret  for  not  having  been  ablo  to  have  him  called  as  Professor  to  the  Academy  of 

Uc'ueva. 

Geneva,  ^Ith  March,  1569. 

I  do  not  wonder,  most  excellent  brother,  that  the  burden 
which  you  sustain  appears  to  you  heavy  and  irksome,  and  that 
labours  full  of  innumerable  vexations  and  dangers,  should  so 
diversely  distract  your  mind  as  to  make  you  sigh  for  their  ter- 
mination and  a  deliverance  from  them.  I  rather  wonder  how 
you  have  been  able  hitherto  to  cope  with  such  severe  trials, 
under  which  you  must  have  sunk  a  hundred  times  unless,  mira- 
culously supported  from  on  high,  you  had  not  risen  superior  to 
what  mere  human  strength  can  perform.  But  amid  these  com- 
mencements which  promise  something  beyond  vulgar  expecta- 
tion, we  dare  not  tear  you  away  from  your  post.  When  seven 
or  eight  months  ago  our  senate  had  decided  to  appoint  profes- 
sors of  three  languages,  the  brethren  were  desirous  to  call  you 
hither,  provided  a  suitable  successor  could  be  readily  found  for 
you.  While  these  things  were  under  discussion  among  us,  a 
report  brought  us  respecting  Emmanuel  Tremelli  broke  off  our 
purpose.^  For  he  himself  indeed  had  written  twice  or  thrice 
that  nothing  would  be  more  consonant  to  his  wishes  than  if  he 
obtained  permission  to  come  and  settle  here.  The  Prince  of 
Deux  Fonts  gave  us  a  courteous  reply,  that  he  could  not  possi- 
bly part  with  Tremelli  except  to  the  great  detriment  of  his 
academy.  Meanwhile,  as  we  were  still  in  suspense,  took  place 
the  calamity  of  the  church  of  Lausanne,  the  tidings  of  which 
it  is  probable  have  penetrated  as  far  as  you.  Thus,  then,  on 
the  present  occasion  was  elected  Anthony  Chevallier,  Tremclli's 
son-in-law  ;  at  least,  Chevallier's  wife  is  a  step-daughter  of  Tre- 
melli. This  I  wished  briefly  to  inform  you  of,  that  you  might 
not  suppose  that  you  had  been  slighted  by  us,  who,  as  you  see, 

'  One  of  the  chaplains  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  versed  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew  Language  and  Literature. 

"See  the  Letter  to  Emmanuel  Tremelli,  vol.  iii.,  p.  464. 


36  M.  DE    LA    GAUCIIERIE.  [1559. 

adopted  a  decision  from  a  sudden  and  unexpected  circumstance, 
for  both  religion  and  a  sense  of  decorum  urged  us  to  provide 
for  a  pious  brother  who  had  been  so  cruelly  ejected.  And  in 
that  appointment  both  the  authority  of  our  academy  and  the 
expressed  wishes  of  Chevallier  were  satisfied.  But  for  this  cir- 
cumstance the  situation  had  been  destined  for  you.  Now  that 
you  have  been  deprived  of  this  opportunity,  weigh  well  whether 
it  would  be  expedient  that  you  should  abandon  the  post  in 
which  God  so  advantageously  employs  your  labours,  unless  the 
brethren  who  consider  you  as  in  some  sort  bound  up  with  them 
should  counsel  you  so  to  do.  Neither  is  it  just  moreover,  nor 
do  we  desire  that  matters  should  be  exposed  to  peril  to  comply 
wdth  our  wishes.  Thus  it  will  be  better  for  you  on  that  matter 
to  deliberate  with  the  brethren,  and  if  you  listen  to  me  you 
will  do  well  if  above  all  you  comply  with  the  advice  of  our 
friend  Henry,'  since  he  has  always  faithfully  and  actively 
assisted  you,  shared  with  you  all  his  vows  and  connected  him- 
self so  closely  with  you,  that  it  were  wrong  to  have  any  sepa- 
rate counsels  from  him.  Excuse  the  brevity  of  this  letter,  since 
the  quartan  ague  still  has  its  hold  on  me,  debilitating  me  exces- 
sively, and  other  symptoms  give  me  no  little  uneasiness.  May 
the  Lord  always  stand  by  you,  govern  and  sustain  you,  and 
shield  you  and  your  wife  with  his  safe  protection.  Many  salu- 
tations I  pray  you  to  the  brethren. 

\^Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DXXXIII.— To  M.  De  La  Gaucherie.'^ 

Diasentions  at  the  Court  of  the  King  of  Navarre — Spanish  refugees — Salutations  to 
the  young  Prince  of  Beam,  afterwards  Henry  IV. 

Geneva,  l&th  May,  1559. 

"When  it  was  my  intention  to  confide  a  letter  for  you  to  our 

'  Henry  de  Barran,  second  minister  of  the  King  of  Navarre. 

'  Francis  de  la  Gaucherie,  preceptor  of  the  young  Prince  of  Beam,  later  Henry  IV. 
Jane  d'Albret,  in  a  letter  to  Theodore  Beza  (6  December,  1567,)  thus  appreciates 
the  excellent  cares  bestowed  on  her  son  by  La  Gaucherie  : — "  My  son,  says  she, 


1559.]  M.  DE    LA    GAUCIIERIE.  37 

friend  Francis'  who  was  returning  among  you,  I  was  prevented 
from  putting  my  purpose  in  execution  by  a  sharp  and  violent 
pain  in  my  leg,  which  though  it  is  now  a  little  mitigated  never- 
theless continues  to  give  me  great  uneasiness.  To  this  was 
added  another  cause  of  delay,  inasmuch  as  this  excellent  man 
entreated  us  to  give  him  a  letter  of  recommendation.  But 
while  he  kept  waiting  to  no  purpose  for  Coulongcs,  and  thus 
spun  out  the  time,  I  gave  the  letter  which  had  been  prepared 
for  the  king  to  be  conveyed  by  a  nobleman  who  is  not  unknown 
to  you.  His  name  is  Givrd.  You  will  perceive  from  the  peru- 
sal of  this  letter,  which  the  secretary,  I  trust,  will  readily  com- 
municate to  you,  how  faithfully,  with  what  bland  entreaties, 
with  what  serious  exhortations,  I  have  studied  to  appease  the 
mind  of  the  king,  that  he  might  not  preclude  an  honest  and 
sincere  servant  of  Christ  from  an  opportunity  of  spreading 
more  widely  the  gospel.  And  though  it  is  possible  that  the 
authority  of  Francis  may  have  been  a  little  too  rigid,  and  his 
zeal  in  dispute  excessive,  when  I  consider  however  for  what 
just  reasons  he  opposed  that  licentious  and  perfidious  monk, 
I  think  the  vehemence  which  has  brought  such  odium  on  him- 
self redounds  to  his  honour,  nor  do  I  insist  so  much  for  the  pur- 
pose of  mitigating  the  resentment  of  the  king,  as  of  correcting 
his  timidity.  That  the  counsels  of  the  courtiers  had  disposed 
the  mind  of  our  friend  Henry^  also  to  too  great  weakness,  I 
congratulate  him  as  on  a  feeling  that  was  only  momentary  in 
both.  In  turn  we  have  exhorted  Francis  not  to  give  any  one 
oifence  by  an  excess  of  moroseness,  and  especially  not  to  sepa- 
rate himself  from  faithful  and  prudent  fellow-workers  such  as  he 
has  found  in  you.  I  return  to  the  bearer  of  this  letter.  He  is 
a  Spaniard  in  whom  we  have  found  a  genuine  zeal  for  piety. 
When  I  was  informed  by  your  letter  that  the  king  of  his  own 

owes  to  him,  and  his  colleagues,  that  root  of  living  piety  which  hy  the  grace  of  God 
has  been  so  well  implanted  in  his  heart  by  good  admonitions  that  at  present  (for  which 
•I  praise  our  heavenly  Father)  it  produces  branches  and  fruits.  I  supplicate  Hiua 
that  he  will  grant  him  grace  to  continue  to  go  on  from  well  to  better."  These  favour- 
able dispositions  did  not  hold  out  against  the  corrupting  influence  of  the  court  of  the 
Valois.  La  Gaucherie  died  in  l.^GG,  and  had  for  successor  Morelli,  (MSS.  of  Geneva, 
vol.  197  b.) 

'  Francis  Boisnormand.  '  Henry  de  Barran. 


38  M.  DE    COLONGES.  [1559. 

accord  was  disposed  to  grant  an  asylum  to  refugees  from  that 
nation,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  add  my  own  recommendation.' 
Of  you  I  ask  nothing,  but  that  according  to  your  wonted  cour- 
tesy you  show  him  all  those  friendly  offices  which  it  will  be 
possible  for  you  to  do  without  putting  yourself  to  any  incon- 
venience. Though  this  recommendation,  in  truth,  seems  also 
superfluous,  because  you  will  desire  without  being  solicited  to 
aid  a  person  whom  you  recognize  to  be  worthy  of  your  affec- 
tion and  that  of  all  pious  men.  Only  let  him  perceive  that  he 
has  been  thought  worthy  of  my  testimony  in  his  favour. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir,  and  my  highly  esteemed 
brother.  May  the  Lord  always  stand  by  you,  support,  protect, 
and  continue  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit.  If  you  do  not  con- 
ceive that  it  will  be  unbecoming,  will  you  do  me  the  favour  of 
offering  my  most  auspicious  wishes  to  the  prince,  your  pupil,  and 
presenting  him  with  my  best  respects. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Zurich,  Simler,  95.] 


DXXXIV.— To   M.  DE    CoLONGES. 
Preliminaries  of  the  Synod  of  Paris — Sending  of  several  ministers. 

Geneva,  17th  3Iay,  1559. 

I  wish  we  had  been  earlier  informed  of  your  next  assembly.^ 
Perhaps,  that  we  might  not  be  altogether  without  our  confession 
of  faith,  some  measure  not  to  be  slighted  might  have  presented 

'  Vol.  iii.,  p.  487. 

"  The  deputies  of  the  principal  Keformed  churches  of  France  were  on  the  point 
of  assembling  to  draw  up  a  confession  of  faith,  an  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  l.ny 
the  foundations  of  a  common  organization  which  was  destined  to  unite  the  congrega- 
tions that  had  hitherto  heen  separated,  and  without  any  other  connection  than  that 
of  their  common  faith.  It  was  on  the  29th  of  May,  1559,  and  during  the  violence' 
of  the  most  fiery  persecution  that  the  deputies  of  eleven  churches  met  .it  Paris,  thus 
forming  the  first  representative  Assembly  of  French  Protestantism.  Beza,  Hint. 
EccL,  vol.  i.,  p.  172.  It  appears  that  some  differences  had  manifested  themselves  be- 
tween the  ministers  of  Paris  and  those  of  Geneva  respecting  the  expediency  of  tliis 
meeting  and  of  the  new  confession  of  failh  that  was  to  spring  from  it. 


1559.]  M.  DE    COLONGES.  39 

itself  to  our  minds.  But  as  the  day  approaches,  it  is  scarcely 
to  be  hoped  that  a  letter  dispatched  with  whatever  speed  would 
arrive  at  its  destination  in  time ;  we  shall  therefore  pray  God 
that  governing  your  minds  he  may  demonstrate  that  his  Holy 
Spirit  has  presided  over  the  whole  transaction.  If  so  obstinate 
a  zeal  for  promulgating  a  confession  of  faith  stimulates  certain 
persons,  we  call  men  and  angels  to  witness  that  this  ardour  has 
not  very  much  displeased  us.  The  rashness  of  the  brethren  of 
Tours,  who  had  blown  their  trumpet  so  unsuccessfully,  will  serve 
as  a  proof  that  they  should  not  advance  too  eagerly.  That 
there  should  be  so  much  anxious  bustle  and  trepidation  among 
us  is  to  me  matter  of  deep  regret.  So  much  the  more  it  be- 
hoves you  to  set  about  the  task  to  which  the  prophet  exhorts 
you ;  namely,  to  confirm  the  weak  hands  and  strengthen  the 
feeble  knees.  If  they  are  so  lukewarm,  and  if  they  forsake 
the  assembling  of  themselves  together,  I  fear  that  we  shall 
send  you  fresh  assistance  to  no  purpose.  Respecting  Vesener 
we  have  come  to  another  decision.  Arnold  is  substituted  in  his 
place,  a  man  well  versed  in  polite  letters  ; — though  Peter  Gilbert 
has  not  the  advantages  of  a  liberal  education,  yet  he  possesses 
no  common  degree  of  knowledge  in  solid  theology  to  which  add 
acuteness  and  a  sound  judgment.  Both  of  them  are  right- 
minded  men  and  inflamed  with  zeal  for  duly  establishing  the 
church.  When  they  shall  have  heard  from  you  your  plans,  and 
learned  as  it  were  their  apprenticeship,  let  me  know  in  a  friendly 
way  your  intentions  respecting  your  return  or  your  longer  stay. 
You  will  see  better  what  may  be  expedient  in  the  present  cir- 
cumstances. Only  fail  not  to  apprise  me  that  due  respect  has 
been  shown  you  as  a  private  individual,  and  that  your  public 
authority  has  had  the  pre-eminence  assigned  it  which  it  de- 
serves. You  will  hear  the  same  injunction  from  Des  Gallars, 
whose  arrival,  if  it  give  you  pleasure,  is  disagreeable  to  our 
society,  and  his  absence  inconvenient  for  his  brethren  at  the 
present  moment.  For  I  cannot  discharge  the  slightest  part  of 
my  ministerial  functions,  and  have  but  very  slender  hopes  of 
being  able  to  do  so  in  the  future.  So  then  you  will  press  him 
to  return  here  as  soon  as  possible.  I  thank  you  for  having 
written  back  to  me  so  distinct,  so  detailed,  and  yet  at  the  same 


40  HOTMAN.  [1559. 

time  so  succinct  an  account.  The  pain  in  my  limb  prevents 
me  from  imitating  your  example,  and  perhaps  the  narrative  of 
our  transactions  will  afford  you  more  pleasure  when  delivered 
to  you  orally.  Farewell,  most  excellent  brother,  worthy  and 
faithful  servant  of  Christ.  Many  salutations  to  your  fellow  pas- 
tors.    May  the  Lord  direct,  protect,  sustain,  and  bless  you  all. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Min. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DXXXV.— To    HOTMAN.i 
Quarrels  of  Hotman  with  Francis  Baudouin. 

Geneva,  11  th  3Iay,  1559. 

I  would  have  had  you  laugh  at  the  excessive  warmth  of  your 
anger,  that  you  might  not  yourself  stir  up  laughter  in  some,  and 
sorrow  in  others.  But  from  your  letter  I  conclude  that  you  are 
not  one  whit  more  appeased  to-day  than  you  were  in  the  first 
transports  of  your  passion.  I  wish  indeed  that  you  would  learn 
either  to  laugh  at  or  despise  those  vexations  which  give  you 
such  immoderate  torment,  lest  the  violence  of  your  temper,  to 
whose  sallies  you  unconsciously  give  Avay,  should  hurt  your  repu- 
tation among  many  grave  and  excellent  men.  I  do  not  speak 
of  that  sluggish  fellow,  whose  lukewarmness  and  torpor  you, 
however,  supported  with  moderation,  till  in  a  private  affair  of 
yours,  in  which  you  wished  to  be  all  fire,  he  conducted  himself 
rather  coldly. 

But  others,  believe  me,  unless  you  speedily  check  your  irasci- 
bility, will  pass  a  silent  judgment  on  your  character,  which  will 
deservedly  occasion  you  more  sorrow  than  the  numberless  trifles 

'  The  Academies  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  were  troubled  by  the  violent  quarrels 
of  Baudouin  and  Ilotman.  For  a  short  time  united  at  Strasbourg  these  two  eminent 
jurisconsults,  of  whom  the  former  was  celebrated  for  the  versatility  of  his  religious 
opinions,  the  second  for  the  fervour  and  asperity  of  his  zeal,  had  commenced  a  con- 
troversy, and  the  departure  of  Baudouin  for  Heidelberg  had  not  reconciled  the  two 
rivals.  Though  he  had  to  complain  of  the  latter  with  whom  he  afterwards  engaged 
in  a  bitter  controversy,  Calvin  deplored  these  polemical  excesses  from  which  he  was 
not  always  himself  exempt.  See  Hotomanni  Epktola:,  and  the  Book  of  M.  Darest«, 
Essai  sur  Fran<;ois  Ilotman,  pp.  3,  4. 


1559.]  HOTMAN.  41 

about  wliicli  you  are  too  anxiously  striving.  For  if  from  polite- 
ness and  kindly  feelings  they  may  forgive  you,  they  do  not  for 
tliat  approve  of  the  faults  of  which  I  now  more  freely  remind  you. 
I  grant  that  Baudouin  by  his  evil  proceedings  is  bringing  ruin 
on  himself,  provided  you  do  not  attack  so  keenly  -what  is  rather 
to  be  deplored. 

For  what  means  that  very  anxious  investigation  respecting 
the  salaries?  Why  does  the  mention  of  a  successor  so  exaspe- 
rate you?  For  what  matters  it  if  he  desire  that  place  to  be 
occupied  by  another  than  you,  before  he  be  forced  to  ask  for 
his  discharge,  in  order  that  he  may  have  it  in  his  power  to  de- 
part with  less  infamy  and  odium?  Certainly  till  the  effer- 
vescence of  your  bile  subside,  it  will  often  exhaust  its  ebullitions 
about  nothing.  Remember  these  counsels  are  given  you  by  a 
man,  who,  though  he  is  conscious  of  possessing  a  more  vehement 
temper  than  he  could  wish,  nevertheless  is  daily  supporting, 
without  any  outbreaks  of  passion,  attacks,  in  comparison  of 
which  your  strife  with  Baudouin  is  mere  child's  play. 

Polier  some  eight  or  ten  days  after  he  arrived  here,  being  re- 
minded by  your  messenger,  paid  me  a  visit.  Having  strictly 
questioned  him  about  those  mysteries  of  which  you  sent  me  an 
account,  I  could  scarcely  get  a  word  out  of  him.^  As  I  had  re- 
peatedly requested  you  to  write  back  to  me  some  positive  in- 
formation respecting  the  grandson  of  Pomerai,  I  am  surprised 
that  you  have  hitherto  maintained  silence,  for  I  do  not  know 
what  you  mean  by  saying  that  you  think  your  solicitude  and 
that  of  M.  Sturm  was  testified  by  a  certain  letter.  I  have 
recovered  from  my  tertian  ague,  but  I  can  scarcely  yet  support 
myself  on  my  legs.  To-day,  however,  I  preached  sitting.  By 
degrees  I  shall  gain  strength. 

Farewell,  distinguished  sir  and  honoured  brother.^  Salute 
affectionately  your  wife,  your  little  boy,  and  our  friends.  May 
the  Lord  protect,  govern,  and  bless  you  all. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 

'  Allusion  to  some  secret  negociations  which  had  for  object  to  give  for  chief  of  the 
French  Reformation  the  King  of  Navarre.     See  the  letter  of  Calvin  to  Sturm,  p.  61. 

■■*  To  the  date  of  the  letter,  Calvin  here  added,  that  it  was  written  the  day  before 
the  departure  of  the  messenger,  who  was  to  be  the  bearer  of  it. 

6 


42  THE   MARQUISE   DE   ROTHELIN.  [1559. 


DXXXVI. — To  THE  Marquise  de  Rothelin.' 

Sends  one  (X  bis  writings  to  the  young  Duke  de  Longueville.     Exhortations  to  the 

Duke's  mother. 

Geneva,  26th  May,  1659. 

Madame: — Being  informed  that  my  first  letters  had  heen 
well  received  by  Monseigneur  your  son,  and  that  if  I  continued 
to  write  to  him  I  might  further  his  progress  in  the  good  path, 
I  should  not  have  so  long  delayed  the  fulfilment  of  this  task, 
had  I  not  been  prevented  during  the  greater  part  of  the  time 
by  severe  personal  sufi'erings.  Nor  would  even  this  circumstance 
have  prevented  me,  had  I  not  reflected  that  he  enjoys  instructions 
by  word  of  mouth,  from  those  who  are  around  him  much  more 
ample  than  any  I  could  send  him  by  letters.  These  then  I  en- 
treat him  to  listen  to  with  docility. 

In  respect  of  the  book  which  I  had  forwarded  to  him,  I  find 
that  the  person  to  whom  I  entrusted  it  made  a  mistake  when  he 
informed  me  that  the  young  prince  was  well  versed  in  Latin. 
Now  I  had  selected  a  lesson  which  was  very  suitable  for  him, 
because  the  prophet  Amos  lays  open  and  rebukes  the  vices  of 
the  court  without  sparing  any.  For  he  sets  about  his  task  with 
all  the  rustic  plainness  of  a  cowherd  or  shepherd,  which  was 
indeed  his  profession  when  he  was  called  to  the  ofiice  of  public 
teaching.  I  should  have  been  well  pleased  then  that  the  said 
seigneur  could  have  contemplated  there,  as  in  a  mirror,  how  he 
ought  to  guard  against  all  the  corruptions  in  vogue,  and  have 
been  reminded  how  they  fail  not  to  be  condemned  of  God,  how- 
ever much  the  world  wallows  in  them  and  applauds  them.  On 
your  own  part,  Madame,  if  they  still  continue  to  have  spies  set 
round  you  and  threaten  you  from  afar,  in  order  to  fill  you  with 
fears,  never,  I  entreat  you,  be  weary  of  God's  service,  but 

'  Encouraged  by  the  Marquise  de  Rothelin  and  the  ministers  of  the  Church  of 
Paris,  Calvin  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  the  young  Duke  de  Longueville  to  whom 
he  had  just  addressed  his  commentary  on  the  lesser  prophets  :  Joannia  Calvini  prce- 
lectiones  in  duodevim  prophetns  quos  vocant  minorea,  Geneva,  1559.  This  commentary 
was  dedicated  to  the  King  of  Sweden. 


1559.]  THE   MARQUISE    BE    ROTHELIN.  43 

rather  inure  yourself  by  the  struggles  which  you  have  already 
maintained  to  such  perseverance  that  God  may  be  glorified  by 
you  in  the  end.  And  I  doubt  not  but  you  faithfully  labour  to 
that  end,  that  even  the  rejoicings  of  these  days  have  been  to 
you  so  much  the  more  vexatious  that  they  always  bring  with 
them  some  consequences  to  displease  and  afflict  the  children  of 
God.'  And  in  truth  Paul  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  faithful 
will  take  no  interest  in  the  pleasures,  delights,  and  dissolute  re- 
vcllings  of  the  world,  so  as  to  find  a  charm  therein,  when  he  re- 
doubles his  exhortations  to  them  to  rejoice  in  the  Lord. 

Though  in  truth  unbelievers  have  no  idea  what  true  joy  is, 
since  they  do  not  possess  a  peaceable  conscience  towards  God, 
nor  can  truly  enjoy  the  goods  which  he  has  showered  down  upon 
them,  however  abundantly.  For  this  very  reason  we  have 
better  motives  for  supporting  with  patience  the  vexations  which 
may  annoy  us,  inasmuch  as  they  cannot  prevent  us  from  con- 
tinually savouring  the  goodness  of  our  God  and  Father  and  the 
love  he  bears  towards  us,  till  we  be  fully  satisfied  with  them  in 
the  place  of  our  everlasting  rest. 

Madame,  having  commended  myself  most  humbly  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  I  will  supplicate  the  Father  of  mercies  to  have 
you  always  in  his  keeping  and  guidance,  to  support  and  fortify 
you  by  the  power  of  his  Spirit,  and  to  increase  in  you  every 
good  and  prosperity. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


'  While  the  Parliaments  ■were  reJouhling  their  rigour  against  the  Reformers, 
magnificent  fetes  wore  being  prepared  for  the  celebration  of  two  marriages,  that  of 
Elisabeth,  the  king's  daughter,  with  Philip  II.,  and  that  of  Margaret  of  Trance  with 
Emmanuel  Philibert. 


44  THE    DUKE    DE    LONGUEVILLE.  [1559. 


DXXXVII. — To  THE  Duke  de  Longueville.' 

He  exhorts  him  to  abstain  from  all  participation  in  the  idolatries  and  disorders  of  the 

age. 

Geneva,  26th  May,  1559. 
MoNSEiGNEUR  : — I  thaiik  our  merciful  Father,  that  you  have 
received  my  letters  with  a  spirit  of  humility,  and  that  you  take 
pleasure  in  the  admonitions  which  they  contain.  For  I  consider 
it  as  highly  important  that  my  labours  in  your  behalf  have  been 
crowned  with  success,  because  of  the  profit  which  I  hope  you 
will  reap  from  them,  for  the  salvation  of  your  soul,  and  also  be- 
cause of  the  advantages  which  will  accrue  from  them  to  the 
church  of  God ;  and  especially  for  the  advancement  of  the  reign  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  that  which  gives  me  boldness  to 
write  to  you  repeatedly,  as  I  believe  that  you  ai-e  convinced 
of  the  need  you  stand  in  of  being  continually  stirred  up,  con- 
sidering the  seductions  that  surround  you,  by  Avhich  you  might 
easily  be  turned  aside  from  the  straight  path,  were  you  not 
fortified  from  on  high  to  resist  them.  Now  not  only  you  have 
many  thorns  to  prevent  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  from  fructifying  in  you,  but  also  many  agents  of 
Satan  who  will  heartily  strive  to  tear  it  from  your  heart. 
Wherefore,  monseigneur,  you  ought  the  more  carefully  to  seek 
for  remedies  to  preserve  you  in  the  fear  of  God  and  the  purity 
of  his  service.  On  my  part  I  shall  spare  no  pains,  as  far  as  I 
shall  have  it  in  my  power,  to  aid  you  in  that  task.  For  one 
cannot  strive  too  much  to  stay  such  a  deluge  of  corruption  as 
that  which  we  now  witness  in  the  world.     You  have  also  to  con- 

'  Leonor  d'Orleans,  Dnke  de  Longvieville,  and  Count  de  Neuchatel.  Educated  by 
his  mother  in  the  Keformed  faith,  this  young  seigneur  took  pleasure  in  the  writings 
and  exhortations  of  Calvin.  In  1562  he  made  a  journey  to  Geneva  of  which  we  read 
an  account  in  the  registers  of  the  Council  ;i-"  The  Duke  de  Longueville  arrived  at 
Geneva  accompanied  by  a  number  of  noblemen.  He  was  complimented  on  the  part 
of  the  Council  by  the  Syndic  Francis  Reset,  Baudichon,  Chevalier,  and  Bernard  ac- 
companied by  M,  Calvin,  who  made  a  speech.  The  said  Duke  de  Longueville  was 
present  to-day  at  the  sermon,  to  which  he  listened  with  great  attention — Our  Lord 
causes  him  to  advance  in  the  Kefurmatiun  of  his  holy  gospel."   2t)th  January,  1562. 


1559.]  THE  DUKE  DE  LONGUEVILLE.  45 

siller  jour  own  age,  the  position  in  Avliich  you  are  placed,  and 
the  countless  temptations  which  might  well  shake  the  resolution 
of  the  most  determined. 

I  will  not  allege  to  you  the  ordinary  train  of  the  court.  I 
shall  only  adduce  one  particular  instance  of  the  dazzling  pomp 
accompanying  the  marriages  a  few  days  ago,  or  which  it  is  pos- 
sible is  not  yet  all  over.'  I  am  not  so  austere  as  to  condemn 
the  fetes  of  princes,  nor  the  rejoicings  with  which  they  celebrate 
their  nuptials.  But  I  am  convinced,  monseigneur,  that  when 
you  enter  into  reflection  with  yourself,  having  recalled  your 
thoughts  from  the  pomp,  vanities,  and  excesses  by  which  they 
may  have  been  led  astray  for  a  moment,  you  will  pronounce 
these  things  a  gulf  of  ruin  and  disorder.  I  only  point  out  to 
you  in  a  small  and  trifling  matter  how  necessary  it  is  for  you, 
amid  so  many  idolatries,  that  you  should  be  fortified  in  perse- 
verance by  God,  and  that  on  your  own  part  you  should  strive 
to  keep  yourself  as  it  were  shut  up  under  his  direction,  applying 
your  studies  to  advance  more  and  more  in  the  knowledge  of  his 
holy  word,  and  praying  him  to  increase  in  you  the  gifts  of  his 
Spirit,  in  order  that  your  faith  may  remain  victorious  even  to 
the  end. 

I  durst  not  venture,  monseigneur,  to  exhort  you  with  so  much 
frankness,  were  you  of  the  number  of  those  who  are  ashamed  of 
submitting  to  God,  on  account  of  their  earthly  rank  and  dignity, 
and  who  wish  to  be  exempted  from  all  correction  and  admoni- 
tion. As  I  am  confident  that  all  the  illusions  of  the  world  will 
never  dazzle  your  eyes  to  such  a  degree,  as  that  you  shall  not 
be  prepared  to  ofier  up  to  the  Son  of  God,  our  sovereign  King, 
the  homage  of  your  soul  and  of  your  body,  it  is  for  this  reason 
that  I  do  not  hesitate  to  confirm  you  more  and  more  in  this 
good  resolution.  But  as  I  fear  to  fatigue  you  by  too  long 
letters,  1  will  content  myself  with  entreating  you  to  read  daily 
the  holy  instructions  which  will  edify  you  in  all  good  and  virtue, 
in  order  that  the  example  of  your  life  may  touch  and  persuade 
many  of  those  poor  ignorant  creatures  that  are  not  incorrigible, 
and  stop  the  mouth  of  the  obstinate  enemies  of  the  truth  of 
God. 

'  See  the  preceding  letter,  p.  43,  note  1. 


46  WILLIAM    CECIL.  [1559. 

Monseigneur,  having  humbly  commended   me   to    your    in- 
dulgent favour,  I  entreat  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you  in 
his  protection,  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit  in  all  prudence  and 
integrity,  and  cause  you  to  prosper  in  all  good. 
[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DXXXVIII.— To  William  Cecil.' 

He  exculpates  himself  to  this  minister  of  the  imputations  brought  agninst  him  on 
account  of  a  writing  of  Knox's. 

Geneva,  May,  1559. 
The  messenger  to  whom  I  had  given  my  commentaries  on 
Isaiah  to  be  offered  to  the  queen,  brought  me  back  word,  that 
my  homage  was  rather  distasteful  to  her  majesty,  because  she 
had  been  offended  with  me  on  account  of  certain  writings  that 
had  been  published  in  this  city.  He  also  repeated  to  me,  most 
illustrious  sir,  the  substance  of  a  conversation  he  had  with  you, 
in  which  you  appeared  more  harsh  towards  me  than  your  usual 
urbanity  led  me  to  suppose,  especially  when  from  my  letter  you 
were  informed  how  much  I  promised  myself  from  your  affection 
towards  me.  Now  though  just  causes  prevent  me  from  excul- 
pating myself  by  a  laboured  refutation,  lest,  however,  I  should 
seem  by  my  silence  to  confess  that  to  a  certain  extent  my  con- 

'  Letter  without  a  date — written  no  doubt  in  May,  1559,  as  seems  to  be  indicated 
by  Cecil's  answer  to  Calvin  of  the  22nd  June  following.  Public  opinion  had  been 
warmly  excited  by  Knox's  pamphlet  against  the  government  of  women.  See  vol.  iii. 
pp.  37,  38.  Directed  against  Queen  Mary,  this  book  was  appealed  to  by  ardent 
sectaries  against  the  authority  of  Elizabeth  herself,  and  Calvin's  name  was  associated 
with  that  of  Knox,  in  the  controversies  to  which  the  writing  gave  rise.  The  Reformer 
judged  it  necessary  then  to  offer  to  Cecil  explanations  indirectly  addressed  to  the 
queen  herself.  Cecil  showed  himself  satisfied  with  them,  if  we  may  judge  by  his  an- 
swer to  Calvin  :  "In  what  concerns  you,  I  know  moat  certainly  that,  for  many  reasons, 
all  writings  of  this  kind  are  displeasing  to  you.  And  if  some  of  our  countrymen  af- 
flicted with  this  mania  have  affirmed  that  you  had  answered,  'though  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  things,  as  we  say,  and  in  virtue  of  the  Divine  word  the  right  of  governing 
is  forbidden  to  a  woman,  nevertheless  there  are  extraordinary  occasions  in  which  it 
maybe  permitted,'  this  distinction,  I  venture  to  affirm,  you  by  no  means  approve  of." 
Queen  Elizabeth's  secretary  signed  his  letter  to  Calvin,  "Yours  most  affectionately, 
and  with  the  warmest  zeal  for  the  evangelical  profession.  W.  C." 


1559.]  WILLIAM   CECIL.  47 

science  blames  me,  I  have  thought  proper  to  put  you  in  pos- 
session of  the  main  facts  of  the  case. 

Two  years  ago,  John  Knox  in  a  private  conversation,  asked 
my  opinion  respecting  female  government.  I  frankly  answered 
that  because  it  was  a  deviation  from  the  primitive  and  established 
order  of  nature,  it  ought  to  be  held  as  a  judgment  on  man  for 
his  dereliction  of  his  rights  just  like  slavery — that  nevertheless 
certain  women  had  sometimes  been  so  gifted  that  the  singular 
blessing  of  God  was  conspicuous  in  them,  and  made  it  manifest 
that  they  had  been  raised  up  by  the  providence  of  God,  either 
because  he  willed  by  such  examples  to  condemn  the  supineness 

I  of  men,  or  thus  show  more  distinctly  his  own  glory.  I  here  in- 
stanced Huldah  and  Deborah.  I  added  to  the  same  eftect  that 
God  promised  by  the  mouth  of  Isaiah  that  queens  should  be  the 

^  nursing  mothers  of  the  church,  which  clearly  distinguished  such 
persons  from  private  women.  Finally  I  added  in  conclusion, 
that  since  by  custom,  common  consent,  and  long  established 
usage,  it  had  been  admitted  that  kingdoms  and  principalities 
might  be  by  hereditary  right  transmitted  to  women,  it  did  not 
seem  proper  to  me  that  this  question  should  be  mooted,  not  only 
because  the  thing  was  odious  in  itself,  but  because  in  my 
judgment  it  is  not  permitted  to  unsettle  governments  that  have 
been  set  up  by  the  peculiar  providence  of  God.  Of  the  book  I 
had  not  the  slightest  suspicion,  and  it  had  been  published  a 
whole  year  before  I  was  aware  of  its  existence. 

Informed  of  the  fact  by  some  persons,  I  testified  in  the  most 
unequivocal  manner  that  the  public  was  not  to  be  familiarized 
with  paradoxes  of  that  kind.  But  because  the  remedy  did  not 
depend  on  me,  I  conceived  that  an  evil  which  could  not  be  re- 
dressed had  better  be  hushed  up  than  publicly  canvassed.  Ask 
of  your  father-in-law,  when  he  reminded  me  of  it  through  Beza, 
what  answer  I  made.  Mary  being  then  still  alive,  I  could  not 
be  suspected  of  an  intention  to  flatter.  Of  the  contents  of  the 
work  I  am  ignorant ;  but  that  the  tenor  of  the  discourse  I  had 
with  Knox  is  such  as  I  have  described  it,  he  himself  will  con- 
fess. But  though  I  was  affected  by  the  complaints  of  pious 
individuals,  yet  as  I  had  not  been  informed  in  time,  lest  greater 


48  WILLIAM    CECIL.  [1559. 

disturbances  should  arise  out  of  it,  I  did  not  venture  to  make 
any  loud  outcry. 

If  my  slackness  offends  any  one,  I  think  I  had  reason  to  fear, 
if  the  affair  had  been  brought  to  a  trial,  that  for  the  incon- 
siderate vanity  of  one  man,  an  unfortunate  crowd  of  exiles 
■would  be  driven  not  only  from  this  city,  but  from  almost  every 
part  of  the  world,  especially  as  the  evil  now  admitted  of  no 
other  remedy  than  the  exercise  of  indulgence.  Besides  that  I 
have  been  loaded  with  undeserved  blame,  for  that  very  reason  I 
still  less  merited  to  have  my  book  rejected,  as  if  a  pretext  had 
been  sought  to  throw  the  follies  of  others  upon  me.  Your  queen, 
if  the  work  did  not  please  her,  might  with  one  word  have  re- 
fused to  accept  my  proferred  courtesy.  That  would  have  been 
more  straight-forward,  and  assuredly  it  would  have  been  more 
agreeable  to  me  than,  besides  the  disgrace  of  a  repulse,  to  be 
charged  at  the  same  time  with  false  accusations.  I  shall  never- 
theless always  cherish  the  most  profound  respect  for  your  most 
excellent  queen;  and  you  too,  renowned  sir,  I  shall  not  cease 
to  love  and  honour  on  account  of  your  extraordinary  talents 
and  other  virtues,  though  I  have  found  you  less  friendly  than  I 
bad  expected,  and  though  you  may  not  in  future  reciprocate  my 
feelings  of  affection.  I  am  unwilling,  however,  to  augur  this 
last  result. 

Farewell,  most  beloved  and  honoured  sir.  May  the  Lord 
always  stand  by  you,  govern  and  protect  you,  and  enrich  you 
with  his  gifts. 

P.  S.  Because  I  am  in  doubt  whether  you  received  my 
former  letter,  I  have  thought  proper  to  send  you  a  copy  of  it. 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  orig.  aiitogr. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


1559.]  THE  BRETHREN  OF  FRANCE.  49 


DXXXIX. — To  THE  Brethren  of  France.^ 

Perseverance  in  the  faith — Patience  in  persecution — Trust  in  God,  who  will  sooner 
or  later  take  in  hand  the  cause  of  his  innocent  followers. 

Geneva, /inje,  1559. 

Dearly  beloved  and  honoured  brethren,  inasmuch  as  you  are 
all  in  general  afflicted,  and  as  the  storm  has  burst  out  with  such 
violence,  that  there  is  no  place  that  has  not  felt  its  ravages ;  as 
moreover  we  are  not  informed  of  your  individual  necessities,  we 
have  thought  that  we  could  not  do  better  than  address  to  you  a 
common  letter  to  exhort  you,  in  the  name  of  God,  whatever 
alarms  Satan  may  create,  not  to  faint,  or  by  withdrawing  from 
the  combat  to  deprive  yourselves  of  the  fruit  of  the  victory 
which  has  been  promised  and  confirmed  to  you.  It  is  most 
certain  that  if  God  did  not  give  freer  reins  to  Satan  and  his 
agents,  they  could  not  thus  molest  you.  And  for  that  reason 
you  should  come  to  this  conclusion,  that  if  your  enemies  plot 
your  ruin  it  is  because  God  on  his  part  has  granted  them  such 
a  permission  in  order  to  prove  your  faith,  having  means  without 
number  at  his  disposal  to  check  all  their  fury  when  he  shall 

'  The  long  struggle  betjveen  Spain  and  France  had  procured  a  momentary  truce  to 
the  Reformed  Churches.  The  peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis  increased  their  perils  by 
reconciling  the  two  monarchs  in  a  common  design,  the  extermination  of  heresy. 
Irritated  by  the  resistance  of  several  of  the  counsellors  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris, 
and  the  courageous  words  of  Anne  Dubourg,  Henry  II.  gave  the  signal  for  new  exe- 
cutions. "Whereupon,  says  Beza,  the  king  having  left  Paris,  (June,  1569,)  came  to 
Escouen,  the  seat  of  the  constable,  from  which  place  he  sent  letters  patent  to  the 
judges  of  the  provinces,  enjoining  that  all  the  Lutherans  should  be  destroyed ;  de- 
claring that  heretofore  he  had  been  prevented  by  his  wars,  and  that  he  perceived  that 
the  number  of  the  said  Lutherans  had  greatly  increased  during  those  troubles,  but 
now  that  peace  having  been  concluded  between  him  and  Philip,  King  of  Spain,  he 
was  quite  determined  to  employ  his  whole  time  in  exterminating  them,  provided  that 
on  their  side  they  were  not  slack.  *  *  *  For  if  they  acted  otherwise,  and  spared 
them  as  he  had  heard  that  some  of  them  had  formerly  done,  to  them  the  blame  should 
be  imputed,  and  they  should  be  made  an  example  to  others.  These  letters  were  well 
calculated  to  stir  up  great  troubles  if  God  had  not  provided  for  it.  Nevertheless, 
the  churches  sought  consolation  in  the  promises  of  God,  continuing  in  prayer  and 
persuading  themselves  that  God  would  finally  hold  out  a  helping  hand  to  his  church  ; 
in  which  confidence  the  foreign  churches  greatly  confirmed  them,  encouraging  them 
to  remain  unshaken  in  their  vocation." — //('s^  EccL,  vol.  i.,  pp.  19-t,  195,  and  Iltit.  de» 
Martyrs,  p.  462. 

7 


50  THE    BRETHREN    OF    FRANCE.  [1559. 

have  glorified  liis  name  by  your  constancy.  Now  when  you  are 
called  to  this  trial  all  that  remains  for  you  to  do  is  to  prepare 
yourselves  for  the  confession  of  the  faith  which  God  requires, 
as  a  sacrifice  which  is  well-pleasing  to  him,  however  much  the 
world  despise  and  scoff  at  our  simplicity.  And  if  it  is  neces- 
sary that  you  should  be  sacrificed  in  order  to  seal  and  ratify 
your  testimony,  he  thus  wills  you  to  take  courage  to  surmount 
all  the  temptations  which  might  turn  you  aside  from  making  it. 
For  it  is  but  reasonable  that  we  should  suffer  ourselves  to  be 
governed  by  the  hand  of  so  good  a  Father,  though  it  may  seem 
to  us  heavy  and  unfeeling.  If  we  were  exposed  to  be  forsaken 
of  him,  then  might  we  feel  consternation.  But  since  He  who 
has  taken  us  under  his  protection  has  himself  willed  to  try  us 
by  all  the  combats  into  which  we  shall  be  brought,  it  is  for  us 
to  subdue  our  affections,  nor  to  think  strange  the  condition  to 
which  we  are  called.  We  are  perfectly  aware  what  terrors  you 
shall  have  to  endure,  when  we  reflect  that  you  are  not  armed 
with  insensibility,  but  feeling  on  the  contrary  much  repugnance 
and  many  conflicts  in  your  flesh.  But  notwithstanding  all  that, 
assuredly  God  must  prevail.  It  was  well  said  of  the  death  of 
Peter,  that  he  should  be  led  by  a  way  which  he  did  not  choose. 
So  he  subdued  the  natural  man,  so  as  to  be  conducted  at  God's 
good  pleasure,  that  is,  with  a  hearty  good  will.  Therefore, 
following  his  example,  wage  a  valiant  warfare  against  your  in- 
firmities in  order  to  remain  victorious  over  Satan  and  all  your 
enemies. 

Great  are  their  rage  and  cruelty  against  the  poor  church, 
their  threats  terrible,  and  the  preparations  are  such  that  we 
might  well  deem  that  all  must  be  ruined.  So  far,  however, 
is  that  from  being  the  case,  that  our  persecutions  are  by  no 
means  so  intense  as  those  which  our  fathers  endured.  Not  that 
the  devil  and  his  children  are  less  hardened  and  bent  upon 
doing  evil  than  ever,  but  because  God  bearing  with  our  weak- 
ness keeps  them  enchained  like  so  many  wild  beasts.  For  it  is 
certain  that  if  hitherto  he  had  not  interposed  his  hand,  we  should 
have  been  destroyed  a  thousand  times,  and  if  he  did  not  still 
continue  secretly  to  watch  over  us,  we  should  be  speedily  swal- 
lowed up.     Knowing  then  by  experience  the  pity  and  compas- 


1559.]  THE  BRETHREN  OF  FRANCE.  51 

sion  that  God  feels  for  us,  so  much  the  more  should  we,  with  a 
feeling  of  security,  repose  on  his  protection,  trusting  that  he  will 
prove  how  dear  our  lives  are  to  him.  Meanwhile  we  must  de- 
spise and  count  them  as  nothing  when  we  are  called  to  employ 
them  in  his  service,  and  among  other  things  maintain  his  holy 
Avord,  in  which  he  desires  his  glory  to  shine  forth.  It  is  thus, 
according  to  the  saying  of  our  divine  Master,  that  we  shall  pos- 
sess our  souls  in  patience,  because  he  will  be  the  faithful  guar- 
dian of  them.  And,  moreover,  if  with  our  free-will  we  lose 
this  frail  and  perishable  condition,  we  shall  recover  it  far  better 
in  the  heavenly  glory.  And  this  is  the  principal  lesson  which 
the  holy  Scripture  requires  you  now  to  meditate  upon  when  it 
■calls  us  pilgrims  in  this  world ;  namely,  that  nothing  should 
turn  us  aside  from  that  enduring  inheritance  to  which  we  can- 
not aspire  with  well-grounded  confidence,  as  we  are  hound  to 
do,  unless  we  are  prepared  to  quit  this  earthly  habitation  when- 
soever it  shall  please  God  to  summon  us  away. 

We  shall  not  accumulate  here  all  the  testimonies  that  might 
contribute  to  fortify  your  patience,  for  we  should  never  have 
done,  since  the  whole  Scripture  is  filled  with  them.  We  shall 
not  deduce  either  how  we  must  be  partakers  of  the  death  of 
the  son  of  God  our  chief,  if  we  are  to  rise  up  again  with  him  ; 
that  we  must  be  conformed  to  his  image,  and  supply  what  is 
wanting  in  his  sufferings,  in  order  to  share  in  the  repose  which 
he  has  promised  to  us.  This  should  be  a  doctrine  common  to 
all  of  us,  that  as  he  entered  into  his  glory  by  many  afflictions, 
so  we  are  bound  to  follow  the  same  course.  For  the  present,  it 
is  sufficient  to  fix  in  our  memories  that  all  the  oppressions  whicli 
fall  out  against  the  church  are  for  the  trial  of  the  faith  of  the 
elect  according  as  God  shall  be  pleased  to  ordain  in  the  fitting 
time.  Now  since  Jesus  Christ  did  not  spare  his  own  blood  in 
order  to  confirm  the  truth  of  the  gospel  wherein  lies  our  salva- 
tion, it  is  but  just  that  we  should  not  refuse  to  make  him  our 
example,  especially  as  we  are  assured  that  whatever  our  ene- 
mies devise  against  us  shall  all  be  converted  to  our  salvation. 
And  that  you  may  take  more  heart,  doubt  not,  when  the  evil 
ones  shall  have  exhausted  all  their  cruelty,  that  there  will  be 
one  drop  of'  blood  that  will  not  fructify  so  as  to  increase  the 


52  THE    BRETHREN   OF   FRANCE.  [155f>. 

number  of  the  believers.  If  it  does  not  seem  to  you  at  first 
sight  that  the  constancy  of  those  who  have  endured  trials  brings 
forth  fruit,  do  not  for  all  that  cease  to  acquit  yourselves  of  your 
duty,  and  leave  to  God  the  advantages  that  will  accrue  from 
your  life  or  death  for  the  edification  of  his  church ;  for  from 
them  he  knows  well  how  to  bring  forth  fruits  in  his  own  time 
and  way.  And  the  more  the  wicked  strive  to  exterminate  the 
memory  of  his  name  from  the  earth,  the  more  efficacy  will  be 
bestow  on  our  blood  to  cause  that  memory  to  flourish  more  and 
more.  And  in  very  deed  we  cannot  fail  to  see  that  God  in- 
tends to  exalt  his  name  at  the  present  moment  and  advance  the 
reign  of  Jesus  Christ.  Only  let  us  suffer  the  darkness  of  the 
present  eclipse  to  pass  over,  waiting  until  God  produce  his  light 
to  rejoice  us,  though  indeed  we  are  never  deprived  of  it  in  the 
midst  of  our  afilictions,  if  we  seek  for  it  in  his  word  in  which  it 
is  offered  to  us  and  where  it  never  ceases  to  shine. 

There,  then,  it  behoves  you  to  turn  your  eyes  during  these 
great  troubles,  and  to  rejoice  that  he  has  esteemed  you  worthy 
of  suffering  affliction  for  his  word  rather  than  of  chastisement 
for  your  sins,  which  we  should  all  deserve  did  he  not  support  us 
by  his  grace.  And  if  he  promises  to  console  poor  sinners  who 
received  patiently  correction  from  his  hand,  be  confident  that 
the  aid  and  comfort  of  his  Holy  Spirit  will  not  fail  you,  when 
reposing  your  trust  on  him  you  shall  accept  the  condition  to 
which  he  has  subjected  his  children.  And  wait  not  till  the 
great  ones  of  this  world  point  out  to  you  the  way,  who  most 
frequently  corrupt  their  brethren  and  cause  them  to  backslide 
rather  than  further  their  progress.  What  is  more,  let  not  each 
man  look  on  his  fellow  to  say  like  Peter :  And  this  man,  what 
of  him?  but  let  each  man  follow  as  he  shall  be  called,  seeing 
that  each  must  give  an  account  for  himself.  Look  rather  at  the 
invincible  courage  of  so  many  martyrs  who  have  been  set  be- 
fore us  as  an  example,  and  take  heart  to  join  yourselves  to  so 
goodly  a  company ;  which  for  this  reason  the  Apostle  compares 
to  an  immense  and  thick  cloud,  as  if  he  said  their  numbers  are 
so  vast  as  in  a  manner  to  blind  our  eyes.  What  is  more,  with- 
out going  further,  the  examples  which  God  every  day  offers  us 
being  duly  considered,  as  they  deserve,  should  be  sufficient  to 


1559.]  THE  BRETHREN  OF  FRANCE.  53 

fortify  us  against  the  stumbling  blocks  thi'own  in  our  way  by 
the  baseness  of  many. 

Moreover,  according  as  each  is  placed  in  a  higher  station,  let 
him  reflect  that  he  is  so  much  the  more  bound  to  take  the  lead, 
and  on  no  occasion  to  yield  to  dissimulation.     Let  not  the  noble 
and  rich  and  people  of  rank  think  that  they  are  privileged, 
but  on  the  contrary  let  them  acknowledge  that  God  has  chosen 
them,  to  be  more  highly  glorified  in  them.     When  you  shall 
march  with  such  simplicity,  invoking  God  to  look  upon  you  with 
compassion,  it  is  certain  that  you  will  thus  feel  more  relief  than 
if  each  thought  of  escaping  by  subterfuges.     We  do  not  mean 
to  say  that  you  should  with  your  eyes  open,  or  without  discre- 
tion, expose  yourselves  to  the  jaws  of  the  wolf;  only  beware  of 
withdraAving  from  the  flock  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  order  to 
avoid  the  cross,  and  fear  more  than  all  the  deaths  in  the  world 
the  dispersion  of  the  church.     Otherwise  what  excuse  will  you 
be  able  to  plead  when  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  his  Father,  and 
all  the  angels  of  paradise  shall  bring  against  you  this  reproach, 
that  having  made  a  profession  of  confessing  God  in  life  and  in 
death,  you  have  betrayed  the  faith  which  you  had  pledged  ? 
What  a  shame  it  will  be,  if  after  having  separated  yourselves 
from  the  defilement  and  pollutions  of  Papal  idolatry,  we  should 
return  to  wallow  a  second  time  therein,  and  become  doubly  abo- 
minable in  the  sight  of  God !     In  one  word,  if  all  our  felicity 
consists  in  being  a  disciple  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  knowing  that  he 
will  disavow  and  denounce  all  those  who  do  not  confess  him  be- 
fore the  ungodly,  steel  your  hearts  to  endure  reproaches  as  well 
as  persecutions,  and  if  you  desire  to  have  God  for  your  strong- 
hold, sanctify  him,  in  despising  the  fears  of  the  unbelieving,  as 
we  are  exhorted  to  do  by  St.  Peter. 

Be  persuaded  also  that  the  pride  of  these  lions  and  dragons, 
and  the  rage  with  which  they  foam,  will  inflame  so  much  the 
more  the  wrath  of  God,  and  hasten  the  execution  of  his  ven- 
geance. Finally,  do  not  take  it  to  heart  to  be  despitefully 
treated  by  such  mad  men,  since  your  names  are  written  in  the 
Book  of  Life,  and  God  approves  of  you,  not  only  as  his  servants, 
but  also  as  his  children  and  heirs  of  his  glory,  members  of  his 
only  Son  Jesus  Christ,  and  companions  of  angels.     Nevertheless 


54  THE   CHURCH    OF    PARIS.  [1559. 

let  it  suffice  you  to  oppose  to  their  furj,  prayers  and  tears, 
•which  God  will  not  permit  to  fall  to  the  ground,  but  which  he 
will  preserve  in  his  phials,  as  is  said  in  the  Psalm. 

We  have  here  briefly  touched  on  what  should  be  your  conduct 
during  this  fiery  trial.  The  main  point  is  that  each  of  you 
should  diligently  exercise  himself  in  the  reading  of  the  word, 
and  that  you  mark  and  retain  the  exhortations  that  are  ad- 
dressed to  you  by  the  mouth  of  God,  to  serve  him  with  all  per- 
severance, never  wearying,  whatever  befall  you. 

If  we  could  make  manifest  to  you  the  care  and  compassion 
which  actuate  us  for  you,  the  desire  and  the  good-will  are  not 
wanting  to  us  for  that  purpose,  just  as  we  are  convinced  that 
the  dangers  which  are  impending  over  ourselves  affect  and  stir 
you  up  to  recommend  us  to  the  keeping  of  God,  whom  we  en- 
treat that  of  his  infinite  goodness  he  would  make  you  feel  that 
he  is  a  protector  both  of  the  body  and  the  soul ;  that  he  would 
govern  you  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  that  he  would  support  you  by 
his  power,  that  he  would  triumph  in  your  persons,  by  scattering 
all  the  counsels,  enterprises,  and  strength  of  his  enemies,  and 
your  own. 

[Fr.  Histoire  des  Martyrs,  Lib.  vii.,  p.  462.] 


DXL. — To  THE  Church  of  Paris. ^ 

Inutility  of  the  steps  taken  in  favour  of  the  French  Protestants — The  helplessness 
of  men — Fidelity  of  God. 

Geneva,  29<A  June,  1559. 

Dearly  beloved  seigneurs  and  brethren,  if  we  have  delayed  to 
answer  you  longer  than  you  could  have  wished,  it  has  also  been 

'  At  the  top  : — To  the  Brethren  of  the  Church  of  Paumiers.  An  inexact  title 
arising  frojn  the  blunder  of  a  copyist,     It  is — To  the  Brethren  of  the  Church  of  Paris. 

The  Church  of  Pamiers  did  not  yet  exist  at  the  date  of  this  letter,  (29  June,  1559.) 
It  could  hardly  be  said  to  exist  two  years  afterwards,  (August,  1661,)  according  to 
the  positive  testimony  of  Beza. —  Hiet.  EccL,  vol.  i.,  p.  866.  Subjects  of  the  King 
of  Navarre,  the  Protestants  of  Pamiers  had  not  moreover  to  suffer  from  the  increased 
rigour  which  signalized  the  last  da3's  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  Now  it  is  a  per- 
secuted church  which  Calvin   addresses,  and  his  anticipations  as  well  as  his  coun- 


1559.]  THE  cuuRcn  of  paris.  55 

to  our  OAYD  great  regret.  But  having  once  let  slip  the  opportunity 
of  writing  to  you  by  a  messenger  who  was  repairing  to  your 
city,  up  to  this  moment  we  had  not  been  able  to  find  another. 
Now. I  have  no  need  to  protest  to  you  that  if  you  are  in  per- 
plexity and  anguish  for  the  dangers  that  are  impending  over 
you,  we  also  feel  our  share  of  them ;  for  we  are  convinced 
that  your  opinion  of  us  is  such  that  you  cannot  suppose  us  so 
destitute  of  humanity  as  to  forget  those  with  whom  we  are  con- 
nected by  fraternal  ties  through  the  faith,  those  too  who  are 
doinc:  battle  for  the  cause  of  our  salvation ;  but  the  evil  afflicts 
us  so  much  the  more  keenly  that  we  are  destitute  of  all  means 
of  relieving  you,  and  have  nothing  left  us  to  do  but  groan  with 
compassion.  Be  persuaded  that  we  have  employed  all  the 
human  means  in  our  power  to  try  to  appease  the  rage  of  the 
enemy  either  wholly  or  in  part,  and  even  at  the  present  mo- 
ment we  would  spare  nothing  were  there  any  hope  that  we  could 
be  of  service  to  you.  But  he  whom  they  entreated'  has  so 
arrogantly  rejected  the  request  of  the  princes  several  times 
reiterated,  that  it  seems  that  God  would  thereby  teach  us  to 
make  himself  our  whole  stay,  both  in  praying  him  to  protect  us, 
and  in  devoting  ourselves  entirely  to  his  obedience  whether  for 
life  or  for  death.  On  our  part,  we  do  not  know  how  soon  the 
blow  may  light  on  ourselves.  One  thing  is  certain,  we  are 
menaced  more  than  all  others.^  But  you  who  are  already  ex- 
posed as  a  prey  to  the  spoiler,  knowing  that  God  is  the  protec- 
tor of  his  followers,  commit  your  ways  to  him,  and  if,  in  the 
meantime,  it  be  his  pleasure  that  you  should  suffer  for  his  name, 
prepare  yourselves  for  that  sacrifice,  for  we  shall  never  be  dis- 
posed to  follow  the  gospel  till  we  lay  our  account  with  being 
patient  in  persecutions.  If  you  are  Aveak,  God  will  know  well 
how  to  support  you ;  but  if  he  bring  you  to  the  trial,  you  must 

gels  sufiBciently  designate  the  Church  of  Paris,  the  first  exposed  to  the  attacks 
of  persecution.  The  trial  of  the  most  illustrious  of  its  members  was  alteady  begun, 
the  prisons  were  replenished  with  captives  doomed  to  death,  while  the  court  inaugu- 
rated by  magnificent  fetes  the  destruction  of  heresy. 

'  King  Henry  II.,  struck,  the  day  after  the  Reformer  wrote  this  letter,  by  the  lance 
of  Montgomery. 

"  Henry  II.  had  uttered  terrible  threats  against  Geneva,  and  Pope  Paul  IV.  preached 
a  crusade  against  the  seat  of  heresy. — Uhi.  de  la  confederation  Suisse,  vol.  xii.,  p.  2-1. 


56  THE  COUNT  d'erbach.  [1559. 

put  in  practice  the  doctrine  of  possessing  your  lives  in  patience. 
For  this  purpose  you  must  raise  your  eyes  to  heaven,  for  other- 
vrise  it  would  be  too  difficult  to  quit  the  world,  and  there  is  no- 
thing that  can  fortify  us  in  all  combats  but  the  firm  persuasion 
that  we  cannot  be  frustrated  of  this  inheritance.  Place  before 
your  eyes  then  our  Chief,  the  Son  of  God,  who  has  risen  from 
the  dead  that  we  should  feel  no  evil  in  dying  with  him  in  order 
to  be  partakers  of  his  heavenly  glory.  Wherefore,  dearly  be- 
loved brethren,  knowing  on  what  condition  we  are  called,  con- 
tinue to  advance,  confirming  yourselves  more  and  more  in  the 
faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  will  be  victorious  over 
the  whole  world,  and  in  withdrawing  yourselves  from  idolatry, 
remain  unmoved  and  peaceable,  endeavouring  by  your  good 
and  holy  life  to  cover  with  confusion  all  the  agents  of  Satan. 

Whereupon,   having   commended   ourselves   to  your  fervent 
prayers,  we  will  also  beseech  our  heavenly  Father  to  condu 
you  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  in  order  that  his  holy  name  ma- 
glorified  in  you  even  to  the  end. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DXLI, — To  THE  Count  D'Erbach.^ 

He  offers  him  Christian  congratulations,  and  consults  him  about  a  project  of  dedicat- 
ing to  the  Elector  Palatine  the  Book  of  the  Institution. 

Geneva,  1s<  July,  1559. 

When  the  preceding  year  Theodore  de  Beza  and  John  Budd, 
on  their  return  from  a  visit  to  you,  most  noble  and  illustrious 

'  Eberard,  Count  of  Erbach  and  the  brother-in-law  of  the  Elector  Palatine,  early  dis- 
played, as  well  as  his  brothers,  the  warmest  attachment  to  the  Reformed  faith.  See 
the  eulogy  of  this  seigneur  in  a  letter  of  the  learned  Olympia  Morata  from  her  re- 
treat at  Heidelberg,  Opera,  pp.  216,  217.  Gifted  with  an  elevation  of  mind  very  rare 
at  this  period.  Count  d'Erbach  deplored  the  sacramentarian  disorders  and  ardently 
desired  the  conciliation  of  the  churches  on  the  grounds  of  faith  and  charity.  "  What 
is  no  less  to  be  deplored  is  that  under  the  splendid  and  fruitful  light  of  the  gospel 
there  should  still  be  found  so  much  darkness,  so  great  a  discrepancy  of  opinions,  that 
those  who  ought  to  be  members  of  one  head  and  one  body,  persecute  one  another 
with  reproaches  and  revilings  not  less  than  the  members  of  Antichrist  are  wont  to  do." 
Without  disapproving  of  the  project  of  dedicating  to  the  Elector,  Calvin's  Christian 


1559.]  THE  COUNT  d'erbach.  57 

seigneur,  among  your  other  rare  virtues  highly  extolled  your 
courtesy ;  they  could  not  hold  their  tongues,  at  the  same  time, 
respecting  your  affection  towards  me,  and  as  they  were  fully 
persuaded  that  should  I  write  to  you,  my  letter  would  be  very 
acceptable,  they  warmly  pressed  me  to  acquit  myself  of  this 
duty.  As,  however,  I  was  already  of  my  own  accord  suffi- 
ciently disposed  to  undertake  this  task,  not  so  much  out  of 
deference  for  them  as  for  the  sake  of  testifying  my  profound 
respect  for  you,  I  know  not  what  cause  has  hitherto  occasioned 
my  delay  or  my  sluggishness,  so  that  laying  aside  all  ideas  of 
excusing  myself  I  am  forced  to  entreat  your  pardon  for  my 
dilatoriness.  But  now  a  new  opportunity  having  most  provi- 
dentially presented  itself,  I  have  mustered  up  courage,  most 
excellent  seigneur,  not  only  to  congratulate  you  on  your  acces- 
sion of  honour  and  dignity,  but  also  to  express  to  you  the  un- 
feigned pleasure  which  I  have  lately  conceived  therefrom.  For 
I  had  heard  long  ago  from  trustworthy  witnesses  how  disin- 
terested your  integrity  and  constancy  were,  in  the  defence  of  the 
sound  and  pure  doctrine,  and  I  again  hear  what  all  pious  men 
in  your  country  expect  from  you.  Though  then  I  wish  and 
pray  for  all  prosperity  and  happiness  to  you,  as  an  individual, 
yet  I  rejoice  more  for  the  public  cause  of  the  church  than  for 
your  own  sake,  that  you  have  been  raised  to  this  high  post  of 
honour,  and  assuredly  you  are  a  great  ornament  to  that  dignity 
which  would  itself  have  adorned  any  other  sprung  from  a  less 
illustrious  family.  I  doubt  not  but  the  Elector  Palatine  counts 
it  not  the  least  part  of  his  good  fortune  that  he  has  found  a 
count  among  the  highest  ranks  of  the  nobility,  fitted  above  all 
others  to  have  this  charge  confided  to  him,  and  who  will  not 
hesitate,  from  his  well-known  feelings  of  modesty,  to  undertake 
it.  But  as  the  prudence  of  the  prince  is  to  be  lauded  in  this 
choice,  so  I  doubt  not  but  that  you  have  been  commended  to 
this  post  of  eminence  by  the  hand  of  God,  first  that  by  your 

Institution,  Count  Eberard  expressed  some  doubts  respecting  the  seasonableness  of 
this  act.  "For  it  is  to  be  feared,  if  any  troublesome  and  suspicious  men  should  learn 
that  your  attempts  and  labours  give  pleasure  to  the  prince,  that  they  will  come  with 
less  alacrity  to  the  conciliation  of  which  I  have  spoken."  Letter  of  the  8th  August, 
1569,  vol.  of  Geneva. 


58  THE  COUNT  d'erbach.  [1559. 

ability,  equity,  diligence,  and  activity  the  state  of  the  princi- 
pality may  flourish  in  inviolate  and  well-established  order,  that 
the  laws  and  public  ordinances  should  be  vigorously  adminis- 
tered, temperance  and  moderation  prevail ;  next  that  religion,  the 
spots  which  still  adhere  to  it  being  wiped  out,  should  regain  its 
unalterable  purity  and  be  thoroughly  purified  from  the  corrup- 
tions of  Popery.  That  despising  the  spite  and  murmurings  of 
the  ill-affected,  you  should  ply  courageously  and  strenuously 
this  holy  and  pious  task,  as  I  deem  it  unnecessary  to  exhort 
you,  most  noble  seigneur,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  vows  and 
prayers  that  the  Spirit  of  God  would  animate  you  to  invincible 
constancy,  that  by  virtue  of  the  same,  all  obstacles  being  hap- 
pily overcome,  you  may  triumphantly  fulfil  the  course  of  your 
calling. 

How  rooted  a  hatred  of  all  sincere  piety  exists  in  the  heart 
of  the  French  king,  and  ho'w  implacable  is  his  cruelty  towards 
the  servants  of  Christ,  was  lately  made  very  manifest  by  one 
example.  When  he  had  heard  that  the  Parliament  of  Paris  was 
deliberating  about  relaxing  their  former  severity,  he  immediately 
flew  thither,  and  having  heard  three  judgments  pronounced,  he 
ordered  the  two  judges  to  be  arrested,  who  had  given  it  as  their 
opinion  that  milder  measures  should  in  future  be  adopted  with 
regard  to  those  who  had  hitherto  been  too  cruelly  oppressed. 
And  to  these  two  persons  he  also  afterwards  added  some  others 
suspected  by  him  of  similar  lenity.  If  you  should  chance  to 
feel  any  wish  for  making  yourself  more  fully  acquainted  with 
the  chief  points  of  this  affair,  I  have  thought  proper  to  send 
to  you  the  letter  which  was  written  from  Paris.  As  he  is  of 
opinion  that  the  doctrine  which  has  been  disseminated  over  all 
parts  of  his  kingdom,  emanated  from  here ;  with  what  ardour  he 
is  inflamed  for  razing  and  destroying  this  city  is  evident,  though 
he  himself  indeed  dissembles  it. 

Assuredly  we  are  not  standing  safe  and  sound  up  to  this 
moment,  unless  by  the  marvellous  protection  of  God.  In  the 
mean  time  as  my  Institution  re-written  and  so  altered  as  to  have 
almost  the  appearance  of  a  new  work,  is  now  in  the  press,  and 
will  be  brought  out  at  the  time  of  the  fair,  some  of  my  friends 
have  suggested  to  me  that  the  apology  prefixed  to  it  addressed  to 


1559.]  FRANCIS    DANIEL.  59 

King  Francis,  should  remain  as  a  testimony  both  to  the  father 
and  the  son.  They  think,  however,  that  I  should  dedicate  to 
your  illustrious  Elector  the  book  itself,  which  holds  the  principal 
and  far  most  conspicuous  place  among  all  my  lucubrations.  I, 
however,  did  not  dare  to  adopt  a  measure  of  this  importance, 
unless  you  should  give  me  some  token  of  your  approval  of  such 
a  resolution,  and  now,  if  I  have  been  inconsiderate  in  mentioning 
the  matter  to  you,  I  beg  you  will  excuse  my  presumption.  If, 
however,  you  shall  have  no  objections  to  communicate  anything 
to  me  on  that  subject,  Hotman  the  jurisconsult  who  lives  at 
Strasbourg  will  take  care  to  have  it  transmitted  to  me. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  and  illustrious  seigneur.  May  the 
Lord  continue  to  govern  both  you  and  your  noble  brothers  along 
with  your  families,  to  protect  you  and  enrich  you  with  every 
blessing,  and  to  foster  between  you  a  holy  and  blessed  unity. — 
Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

\Lat.  orig.  autogr. — Lihrai'y  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DXLIL— To  Francis  Daniel.' 

He  pleads  with  Daniel  in  favour  of  one  of  his  sons  who  had  taken  refuge  at  Geneva 
for  the  sake  of  religion. 

Geneva,  2bth  July,  1559. 

Sir  and  well  beloved  brother,  I  have  delayed  till  now  to  write 
to  you  about  your  son,  both  to  be  better  able  to  decide  with 

'  Francis  Daniel,  an  advocate  at  Orleans,  the  follow  student  and  friend  of  Calvin  at 
the  university  of  this  city.  Won  over  in  early  youth  to  the  Reformed  doctrines  which 
he  no  doubt  derived  from  Calvin  himself,  he  nevertheless  remained  outwardly  at- 
tached to  the  Catholic  church  in  spite  of  the  censures  of  the  Reformer.  The  eldest 
of  his  sons,  Peter  Daniel,  an  advocate  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  cultivated  letters 
with  some  success,  and  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  Joseph  Scaliger  (MSS.  de  Berne, 
vol.  141).  The  second  Francis  Daniel,  inclined  by  his  tastes  to  the  study  of  theology, 
but  crossed  by  his  father  who  destined  him  for  the  bar,  fled  from  Orleans  and  repaired 
in  1559  to  Geneva.  Welcomed  afleetionately  by  the  Reformer,  and  docile  to  his 
counsels,  he  consented  a  year  afterwards  to  return  to  the  parental  roof,  and  follow 
the  career  of  the  law.     See  the  Latin  correspondence  of  Calvin,  1559,  1560.     There 


60  FRANCIS   DANIEL.  [1559. 

time  what  I  ought  to  communicate  to  you,  and  also  because  I 
had  no  opportunity  of  a  sui'e  and  fitting  messenger.  I  make  no 
doubt  but  that  you  are  angry  at  his  departure,  being  disap- 
pointed in  the  hopes  and  intentions  which  you  had  founded  on 
the  career  which  you  wished  him  to  pursue.  But  I  beseech  you 
not  to  give  such  loose  to  your  passions  as  not  to  judge  equitably, 
in  order  that  you  may  think  favourably  of  what  he  has  done,  if 
it  is  of  God.  If  you  had  such  courage  as  most  certainly  you 
ought  to  have  had  in  acquitting  yourself  of  your  duty,  you  would 
long  ago  have  shown  him  the  example.  But  if  you  are  cold 
and  tardy  in  emerging  from  the  gulf  in  which  you  are  plunged, 
at  least  bear  no  grudge  against  your  children  if  God  delivers 
them  from  it,  but  take  occasion  from  their  example  to  bestir 
yourself  to  make  every  eflfort  to  escape  from  it. 

As  far  as  I  have  observed,  it  seems  to  me  that  your  son  has 
by  no  means  been  impelled  or  induced  by  thoughtlessness,  but 
that  the  fear  of  God  has  constrained  him  to  withdraw  from 
superstitions  with  which  God  is  offended.  You  ought  not  to 
feel  hurt  that  God's  authority  has  been  preferred  to  your  satis- 
faction. What  makes  me  conclude  that  the  young  man  has 
been  swayed  by  no  other  consideration  than  a  desire  to  serve 
God  in  purity,  is  that  here  he  conducts  himself  with  modesty, 
and  without  any  marks  of  a  behaviour  different  from  that  of  a 
sincere  Christian.  As  yet  he  has  had  no  succour  from  me, 
though  it  only  depended  on  himself  to  accept  what  I  offered 
with  a  good  heart,  and  I  shall  always  be  ready,  for  the  love  I 
bear  to  you,  to  aid  him  as  far  as  my  slender  means  will  permit. 
But  above  all  I  desire  that  you  should  be  appeased  towards  him. 
It  is  not  as  if  he  had  quitted  you  in  the  manner  of  debauched 
lads — but  since  he  has  been  zealous  to  follow  God,  you  have 
much  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  him,  and  to  that  end  I  most 
affectionately  implore  you.  I  hope,  after  having  had  some 
answer  from  you,  to  write  to  you  more  fully;  in  the  meantime, 
having  cordially  commended  me  to  you,  to  your  mother,  and 
your  wife,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you 

exists  {Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  196)  a  letter  of  young  Francis  Daniel  to  Calvin  solici- 
ting the  favour  of  studying  at  the  same  time  theology  and  law.  This  letter  is  dated 
from  Orleans,  5th  April,  1561. 


1559.]  JOHN  STURM.  61 

continually  in  his  holy  keeping,  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit  and 
increase  you  in  all  prosperity. 

Your  humble  brother  and  entire  friend, 

Charles  D'Espeville. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Berne,  Coll.  Bong ars.     Vol.141.] 


DXLIII.— To  John  Sturm.' 

Complaints  about  the  weakness  and  inactivity  of  the  King  of  Nararre. 

Geneva,  18<7i  August,  1659. 

It  was  neither  from  laziness,  nor  indifference,  nor  parsimony, 
that  after  Hotman's  departure  I  did  not  write  a  word  about  the 
affair  that  had  been  agitated  between  us.  But  a  lack  of  matter 
kept  me  silent,  for  I  felt  ashamed  to  write  to  you  an  unmeaning 
letter  void  of  information.  Since  that  time  we  have  had  daily 
new  and  contradictory  rumours  respecting  Varranus.  Indeed 
it  was  announced  to  me  more  than  ten  times,  that  the  following 
day  or  two  days  after  he  was  expected  at  the  court,  when  all 
the  time  he  was  distant  from  it  more  than  seven  days'  journey. 
For  as  soon  as  it  was  known  that  an  expedition  had  been  un- 
dertaken by  him,  it  was  believed  that  he  would  make  all  possible 
haste  not  to  lose  the  opportunity.  But  advancing  at  a  snail's 
pace,  he  scarcely  accomplished  four  French  leagues  a  day.  In 
this  state  of  doubt  you  have  no  reason  to  be  surprised  that  I 
remained  inactive.  And  yet  I  have  sharply  reprimanded  the 
man  whom  I  had  charged  to  have  an  interview  with  him  for  not 
having  advanced  to  meet  him.  What  answer  he  will  give  me 
as  yet  I  know  not. 

'  Active  negotiations  were  then  entered  upon  between  Strasbourg  and  Genera- 
While  the  young  king  Francis  II.,  ruled  by  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  signed  every 
day  orders  for  fresh  executions,  Sturm  and  Hotman  urged  Calvin  to  unite  his  efforts 
with  theirs  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  cause  of  the  gospel,  gravely  coinproniised  in 
France.  Some  Protestants  believed  they  might  rely  on  the  King  of  Navarre,  but 
neither  Calvin  nor  Sturm  had  any  confidence  in  this  prince,  though  in  the  actual 
state  of  things  it  seemed  to  them  impossible  not  to  invoke  his  aid.  It  is  this  prince 
who  is  designated  by  the  name  of  Varranua  in  Calvin's  letter  to  Sturm.  See  Ch. 
Schmidt,  La  vie  de  Jean  Sturm,  p.  103. 


62  JOHN    STURM.  [1559. 

From  these  circumstances  our  counsels  are  kept  in  a  great 
measure  in  suspense.  As  long  as  Henry  was  alive,  it  was  better 
for  this  man  not  to  show  himself.  But  the  change  which  has 
occurred  by  the  death  of  the  former,  forces  us  to  have  recourse 
to  this  necessity.  Nay,  as  I  am  ignorant  whether  your  prince 
still  persists  in  the  same  opinion,  I  should  not  dare  to  attempt 
anything  unless  I  were  informed  of  his  intentions  for  fear  my 
activity  should  turn  out  rash  or  foolish.  But  as  in  the  begin- 
ning it  was  my  opinion  that  Varranus,  whose  inconsistency  I 
suspected,  should  be  left  out,  so  at  the  present  moment,  it  is  ne- 
cessary, whether  I  will  or  no,  to  learn  what  are  his  intentions. 
If  he  had  arrived  at  court  in  time  as  was  the  general  belief, 
already  informed  by  his  answer  of  what  was  necessary  to  be 
done,  I  should  not  have  delayed  one  moment.  But  because  it 
was  neither  safe  to  send  a  letter  except  by  a  man  on  whom  we 
could  depend,  nor  was  it  even  ascertained  where  he  was  to  be 
found,  it  was  my  duty  to  abstain  from  acting. 

If  any  news  shall  be  brought  which  may  concern  your  affairs, 
I  shall  spare  no  expense.  Among  the  followers  of  Guise  there 
is  much  audacity,  but  of  that  kind  which  is  to  be  found  among 
men  of  desperate  fortunes.  The  Queen  Regent'  after  having 
made  liberal  promises  to  our.  party  has  performed  none  of  them. 
AVe  shall  be  able  to  form  a  more  correct  judgment  then  after  the 
arrival  of  Varranus.  Before  that  it  is  neither  useful  nor  even 
possible  to  take  any  steps.  But  of  him  you  may  say  that  he 
trusts  neither  in  God  nor  men.  His  like  you  will  not  find  in 
our  party. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir.  May  the  Lord  govern, 
protect,  and  bless  you. 

[Lat.  Copy. — ArcJi.  Eccles.  of  Berne.     Vol.  vi.  p.  847.] 

•  Catherine  of  Medieis. 


1559.]  THE  DUKE  DE  LONGUEVILLE.  63 

DXLIV. — To  THE  Duke  de  Longueville.^ 

Ho  warns  hiin  of  tho  dangers  and  temptations  of  the  court. 

Geneva,  22»c/  August,  1559. 

Monseigneur: — I  hope  you  will  not  find  it  strange  that 
I  continue  to  exhort  you  several  times,  not  only  to  persevere, 
but  also  to  profit  and  grow  in  tho  faith  of  the  holy  gospel,  and 
show  by  your  efforts  that  this  very  precious  seed  which  God  has 
sown  in  you  has  fallen  upon  good  ground,  and  has  taken  deep 
root  to  produce  fruits  during  your  whole  life.  And  even  should 
the  opportunity  present  itself  of  stirring  you  up  oftener,  I  trust 
that  my  diligence  will  not  be  disagreeable  to  you,  and  that  you 
Avill  feel  sufficiently  convinced  of  the  need  you  will  have  of  it  in 
the  midst  of  the  many  temptations  which  Satan  contrives  against 
you,  which  it  is  difficult  to  resist,  and  would  be  altogether  im- 
possible, if  you  were  not  armed  by  more  than  human  wisdom. 

It  is  for  that  reason  that  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  you  desire 
to  be  fortified  by  good  and  holy  admonitions  to  do  your  dut}', 
since  you  are  aware  that  we  gain  nothing  by  flattering  ourselves 
in  our  weakness,  if  we  do  not  render  to  God  the  service  and 
honour  which  is  his  due.  For  whatever  we  may  allege,  since 
his  glory  ought  to  be  more  precious  in  our  eyes  than  a  hundred 
thousand  lives,  we  have  no  excuse  for  not  confessing  the  truth 
of  his  gospel  when  he  has  made  us  acquainted  with  it,  as  it  is  a 
sacrifice  which  he  strictly  requires  of  us.  And  it  is  on  this 
subject  that  Jesus  Christ  says  that  no  one  is  worthy  of  being 
his  disciple  unless  he  forsake  father  and  mother  and  wife,  and 
everything  that  is  in  the  world. 

Now,  Monseigneur,  you  have  a  great  advantage,  inasmuch  as 
your  mother  desires  nothing  more  than  that  you  should  walk 
straightforwardly  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  she  could  receive 
no  greater  pleasure  from  you  than  that  of  seeing  you  virtuously 
profess  the  faith  of  the  gospel.  If  on  the  other  hand  there  is 
any  obstacle,  you  must  summon  up  courage  to  surmount  it,  and 

'  See  the  letter,  p.  44. 


64  THE   DUKE    DE    LONGUEVILLE.  [1559. 

not  give  way  in  any  manner  that  might  cause  you  to  defraud 
God  of  the  right  which  belongs  to  him  in  order  to  gratify  men. 
There  is  no  earthly  kinsnianship  that  should  not  be  trampled 
under  foot,  in  order  to  yield  and  give  place  to  the  honour  of  our 
sovereign  and  only  Father,  to  do  homage  to  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  on  whom  all  the  ties  of  relationship  depend. 

You  know  from  experience,  Monseigneur,  that  I  do  not  say 
this  without  cause,  inasmuch  as  you  are  constrained  to  bear 
many  contradictions  to  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  you  to  give  ear, 
without  being  disloyal  to  Him  who  has  purchased  you  at  so 
great  a  price,  to  the  end  that  you  should  be  dedicated  to  him. 
Wherefore  it  is  necessary  that  you  should  put  on  such  magna- 
nimity, that  neither  favour  nor  hatred  should  turn  you  aside 
from  glorifying  him  who  deserves  the  preference  over  all  mortal 
and  perishable  creatures.  And  in  fact,  the  only  means  of  aspir- 
ing to  this  spiritual  kingdom,  is  to  despise  what  keeps  us  entan- 
gled here  below.  But  that  you  may  be  inclined  to  support  all 
these  combats,  I  entreat  you,  Monseigneur,  carefully  to  exercise 
yourself  in  reading  and  hearing  the  word  of  God,  and  the  pious 
instructions  that  may  guide  you  to  the  understanding  thereof, 
that  you  may  have  in  your  heart  a  lively  sense  of  what  St.  Paul 
says,  viz :  that  the  gospel  is  the  doctrine  of  truth,  and  that  by 
this  means  you  may  maintain  with  invincible  courage  the  strug- 
gle which  most  certainly  awaits  you. 

For,  here  is  the  cause  of  the  coldness  and  cowardice  which 
we  see  in  many, — it  is  that  they  do  not  make  it  their  study  to 
form  their  resolution  upon  good  grounds,  so  that  they  might  say 
according  to  the  admonition  of  St.  Paul,  that  they  know  in 
whom  they  have  believed,  and  that  He  who  is  the  infallible 
truth,  will  show  himself  faithful  in  keeping  what  they  have 
entrusted  to  him.  For  which  reason,  Monseigneur,  take  courage, 
I  pray  you,  to  do  battle  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  is  bestowed  on  us,  it  is  true  of  free  grace, 
but  on  this  condition  that  we  confess  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
whom  it  cost  so  dear  to  purchase  it  for  us.  And  in  order  that 
God  may  work  in  you,  and  support  you  by  the  power  of  his 
Spirit,  I  pray  you  also,  Monseigneur,  to  beware  of  the  allurements 
and  delights  of  the  world,  with  which  it  is  impossible  that  you 


1559.]  THE    MARQUISE    DE    ROTHELIN.  65 

should  not  be  surrounded,  that  you  may  be  the  more  on  your 
guard  against  them,  reflect  that  they  are  so  many  sorceries  of 
Satan,  so  many  mortal  poisons  to  draw  you  to  perdition.  Now 
God  of  his  infinite  goodness  has  willed  to  call  us  to  a  much 
better  condition.  Though,  then,  many  of  those  who  call  them- 
selves believers,  give  themselves  a  license  to  abandon  themselves 
to  their  pleasures  full  of  corruption,  be  not  disposed  to  follow 
their  example  for  fear  the  light  which  God  has  given  you  should 
be  extinguished ;  but  learn  to  bear  the  yoke  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  you  will  find  easy  and  light,  if  you  will  suffer  your- 
self to  be  governed  by  him. 

Whereupon,  Monseigneur,  having  humbly  commended  me  to 
your  kind  favour,  I  entreat  our  heavenly  Father  to  enrich  you 
more  and  more  with  his  spiritual  gifts,  to  confirm  you  in  his 
obedience,  to  have  you  in  his  protection  and  to  maintain  you 
in  all  prosperity. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DXLV, — To  THE  Marquise  de  Rothelin.' 

He  urges  her  to  show  herself  always  more  firm  in  the  profession  of  the  truth. 

Geneva,  22d  Aui/ust,  1559. 

Madame  : — I  make  no  doubt  but  that  in  these  changes  and 
revolutions,  you  have  to  endure  many  alarms,  and  that  you  are 
agitated  from  all  sides.  If  obstacles  are  thrown  in  your  way, 
you  know  to  whom  you  must  have  recourse  to  obtain  succour. 
We  have  the  promise  of  Him  who  has  all  strength  in  his  hands, 
that  our  faith  shall  be  victorious  over  all  the  enemies  of  our  sal- 
vation. Let  us  then  place  our  stay  on  him ;  let  us  call  upon 
him  in  all  our  necessities,  and  we  shall  never  be  disappointed  in 
our  hope  that  he  will  stretch  out  to  us  a  helping  hand.  I  pray 
you,  Madame,  though  others  advance  tardily,  or  even  go  back, 
not  to  swerve  from  the  straight  path,  but  to  pursue  triumpiiantly 

'  Letter  enclosed  in  the  preceding  one  to  the  Duke  de  Longueville,  with  these 
words  : — To  the  J/cc^ki'sc,  his  mother. 


66  PETER    MARTYR.  [1559. 

the  holy  vocation  to  T\-hich  we  have  been  called,  till  you  have 
attained  the  mark.  For  -we  are  elected  and  adopted  by  too 
good  a  Father  ever  to  tire  of  pleasing  him  and  conforming  our 
■whole  life  to  his  will.  And  the  inheritance  to  which  we  are 
called  is  too  excellent  not  to  be  pursued  to  the  end.  We  have, 
indeed,  reason  to  praise  God,  Madame,  for  what  we  have  heard 
of  you.  But  when  the  question  is  to  honour  God,  you  can 
never  set  about  it  with  such  courage  as  not  to  leave  room  for 
desiring  something  still  better,  as  I  trust  that  you  will  always 
aim  and  strive  after  a  still  higher  degree  of  advancement. 

You  will  see  the  letter  which  I  have  written  to  your  son. 
Because  I  know  how  much  the  house  with  which  he  is  connected' 
is  for  the  most  part  hostile  to  the  gospel,  I  have  not  scrupled  to 
point  out  to  him  that  he  should  be  so  much  the  more  on  his 
guard,  not  to  be  seduced,  corrupted,  or  turned  aside  by  any 
considerations  whatever,  from  the  pure  simplicity  to  which  we 
ought  to  cleave  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I  believe,  also,  that 
you  will  not  conceive  such  an  admonition  unsuitable,  considering 
the  necessity  there  is  for  it. 

Whereupon,  Madame,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to 
your  kind  favour,  I  will  entreat  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  holy  keeping,  to  guide  you  always  by  his  Spirit,  and 
cause  his  name  to  be  more  and  more  gloriiSed  in  you,  even  to 
the  end. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.1 


DXLVI.— To  Peter  Martyr. 

Sufferings  of  the  French  Protestants — Gloomy  apprehensions  respecting  the  future. 

Geneva,  4th  October,  1559. 

It  fell  out  opportunely,  venerable  brother,  that  two  days  after 
your  letter  came  to  hand  this  messenger  was  starting,  to  whom 
I  could  with  safety  confide  mine,  though  indeed  nothing  occurs 

"  He  was  nephew  of  Mary  of  Lorraine,  Queen  dowager  of  Scotland,  married  in 
first  nuptials  to  Louis  II.  of  Orleans,  Duke  de  Longueville. 


1559.]  PETER  MARTYR.  67 

to  me  at  the  moment  to  -write  to  you  about  but  -what  is  sorrow- 
ful. I  am  unwilling  also  to  make  you  a  sharer  in  my  vexations, 
but  that  I  know  that  the  present  subject  of  anxiety  is  one  which 
is  common  to  both  of  us.  The  unhappy  state  of  our  brethren 
in  France,  who  have  at  heart  the  interests  of  sincere  piety,  afflicts 
me  with  great  sorrow,  and  torments  me  with  no  less  inquietude 
and  apprehension.  A  prompt  remedy  for  these  evils  was  in  the 
power  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  and  he  had  promised  wonders. 
But  now  he  has  added  treachery  to  his  cowardice,  which  was 
already  sufficiently  disgraceful.  The  mother-in-law  of  the  Prince 
of  Condd'  had  obtained  of  the  queen-mother  that  one  of  the 
ministers  of  the  church  of  Paris*  should  be  admitted  to  an  in- 
terview. After  being  sent  for,  he  is  dismissed  with  mockery.' 
Meanwhile  all  things  are  tending  towards  a  horrible  butchery, 
because  those  who  had  professed  themselves  the  disciples  of 
Christ,  and  had  frequented  the  secret  assemblies,  were  de- 
nounced by  apostates.  The  thing  is  passing  sad.  Yet  must 
we  wait  patiently  and  calmly  till  our  Avenger  appear  from  on 
high,  who  will  come  at  the  appointed  time,  that  I  know.  But 
we  must  also  entreat  him  to  support  infirm  minds.  I  will  not 
exhort  you  and  your  colleagues  to  recommend  the  deliverance 
of  these  poor  brethren  to  God,  because  I  know  that  you  are 
spontaneously  inclined  to  this  duty. 

Farewell,  most  distinguished  sir  and  sincerely  honoured  bro- 
ther. Salute  friends.  May  the  Lord  protect  you  and  your 
wife  from  all  evil,  govern  and  strengthen  you,  and  enrich  you 
with  his  gifts.  Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Calvin's  Lat.  Corresp. —  Oper-a,  ix.  p.  136.] 

■  The  Countess  de  Roye.  '  ^  The  Minister  la  Roche  Chaudieu. 

'  Peter  Martyr  entertained  no  false  illusions  respecting  the  sentiments  of  Catha- 
rine of  Medicis.  Here  is  the  manner  in  which  he  judged  this  princess  whose  coun- 
tryman he  was: — "Others  are  perhaps  astonished  at  the  queen.  I  am  not.  For 
hitherto  I  have  never  perceived  any  sincere  marks  of  her  pious  sentiments  in  respect 
of  religion."  Educated  in  the  school  of  Machiavelli,  this  princess  deceived  all  par- 
ties with  the  same  duplicity,  and  remained  faithful  to  but  one  maxim — To  sow  divi- 
sions in  order  to  reign. 


68  BULLINGEK.  [1559. 


DXLVII.— To   BULLINGER. 

Reply  of  a  German  prince— Beza  at  Strasbourg — Deplorable  situation  of  the  Frencli 
Reformed— Preludes  of  Civil  AVars. 

Geneva,  5th  Octolcr,  1559. 

The  native  of  Saxony  whom  you  recommended  to  me,  my  vene- 
rable brother,  has  found  an  honest  and  courteous  host  in  Macar, 
one  of  our  colleagues,  at  whose  house  he  will  lodge  very  com- 
fortably.    In  congratulating  me  on  my  better  health,  you  act 
according  to  your  wonted  kindness  and  fraternal  affection  for  me. 
You  have  also  acted  the  part  of  a  friend  in  informing  me  of 
things  which,  though  they  were  not  in  all  respects  agreeable, 
were  yet  useful  to  be  known.     Herman  had  written  the  same 
thing  to  me  about  the  answer  of  the  Count  of  Erbach.     I  had 
received  a  short  time  before  a  letter  from  his  brother  Eberard,' 
in  which  he  lets  me  know  that  he  had  always  hitherto  professed 
a  great  desire  that  the  princess  should  decide  upon  a  conference 
for  the  purpose  of  putting  an  end  to  dissensions.     As  he  is  a 
man  of  remarkable  prudence,  and  altogether  devoted  to  our 
party,  I  do  not  think  he  expresses  himself  thus  without  some 
solid  reason.     If  he  entertains  favourable  hopes  of  the  result, 
the  opportunity  ought  not  to  be  neglected.     For  he  threw  out 
various  hints  on  that  subject,  about  which  I  have  never  written 
even  a  syllable.     But  for  that  very  reason,  I  have  wished  to 
put  you  in  mind  that  if  you  think  proper  you  may  consult  with 
M.  Peter  Martyr  and  the  other  brethren  what  answer  we  should 
return. 

Our  brother  Bezs,  has  gone  to  Strasbourg.  What  he  will  do 
I  know  not,  or  rather  I  suspect  he  will  do  nothing ;  but  as  an 
expedition  of  great  importance  which  concerns  us  is  undertaken 
by  certain  persons,  and  Sturm  earnestly  demanded  to  have  an 
interview  with  me  or  Beza,  we  thought  it  right  to  concede  a 
little  to  his  wishes  lest  he  should  fancy  himself  slighted.^     At 

«  See  p.  56. 

'^  They  were  then  discussing  at  Strasbourg  projects  of  resistance  to  the  oppression 
of  the  Guises,  projects  which  were  destined  to  terminate  in  the  conspiracy  of  Aniboise. 
Calvin  did  not  hesitate  to  disapprove  beforehand  in  the  most  absolute  manner  of  the 


1559.]  BULLINGER.  69 

Paris  the  cruelty  of  the  enemies  of  the  gospel  rages  more 
furiously  than  it  appears  hitherto  to  have  done.  Commissa- 
ries have  orders  to  go  over  the  whole  city,  and  inquire  from 
house  to  house  in  what  manner  each  person  conducts  himself, 
and  whether  he  goes  to  mass  on  all  the  feast  days.  They  not 
only  make  their  way  into  bed-chambers,  but  rummage  beds, 
chests,  and  coffers,  that  they  may  forthwith  drag  to  prison  those 
in  whose  possession  they  find  a  suspected  book.  They  turn  all 
the  household  furniture  upside  down,  and  menace  with  punish- 
ment the  masters  of  families,  if  they  shall  be  discovered  to 
have  sheltered  a  Lutheran  in  their  houses.  They  strictly  en- 
join all  neighbours  to  keep  a  careful  watch  on  each  other,  under 
severe  penalties  for  their  negligence,  if  they  are  slack  in  the 
performance  of  this  duty.^  Under  this  pretext  not  a  few  houses 
have  been  pillaged.  There  lately  took  place  an  occurrence 
■which  will  inflame  the  rage  of  these  men.  Some  fifteen  per- 
sons of  noble  rank  were  dining  in  a  tavern.  In  a  moment  the 
commissary  is  at  his  post.  His  beadles  break  through  the  win- 
dows. As  the  affair  had  a  tumultuous  and  hostile  aspect,  these 
foreign  guests  having  drawn  their  swords  began  to  repel  force 
by  force.  One  of  the  beadles  was  killed,  a  good  many_  wounded. 
Thus,  unless  God  provide  a  remedy  in  time,  there  will  be  no 
end  to  the  effusion  of  blood.  A  much  greater  number  of  men 
has  been  cast  into  fetters  than  during  the  two  preceding  years. 
The  most  loathsome  dungeons  are  crowded  with  wretched  indi- 
viduals. Every  now  and  then  along  the  thoroughfares  numer- 
ous persons  are  summoned  by  sound  of  trumpet  to  appear. 
The  property  of  the  absent  is  plundered. 

In  Provence  the  brethren,  attacked  by  private  individuals 
with  the  sword  and  outrage,  have  begun  to  defend  themselves. 

general  intention  of  having  recourse  to  force,  and  this  opinion,  which  he  shared  with 
Sturm,  was  opposed  by  Hotman,  whose  influence  finally  prevailed  in  this  unfortunate 
enterprise. 

'  In  order  to  discover  more  readily  the  Reformed,  images  of  the  Virgin  were  placed 
at  the  corners  of  the  streets  and  over  the  doors  of  the  houses,  and  wo  to  him  who 
did  not  salute  them.  He  fell  under  the  blows  of  the  populace  rendered  fanatical  by 
the  monks.  Did  one  wish  to  deliver  himself  from  a  troublesome  creditor,  he  had  but 
to  cry  out,  The  Lutheran,  the  Lutheran  !  and  the  debt  was  expunged,  and  the  debtor 
profited  moreover  by  the  spoils  of  his  creditor. — D'Aubigne,  Hist.  Univ.,  vol.  i.,  p.  91. 


70  MADAME   DE   QRAMMONT.  [1559. 

Hitherto  they  have  had  the  upper  hand,  and  have  slain  but  few, 
though  they  might  have  exterminated  all  to  a  man.'  We  have 
till  now  kept  back  the  Normans,  but  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared 
that  if  they  be  excessively  provoked  they  too  will  rush  to  arms. 
God  then  is  to  be  entreated  that  of  his  admirable  goodness  and 
wisdom  he  would  calm  these  troubled  billows.  In  the  meantime, 
I  pray  him  that  he  would  protect,  govern,  and  bless  you,  your 
family  and  colleagues.  Viret  and  the  others  cordially  salute 
you.  You  will  salute  affectionately  in  my  name  our  friends  and 
brethren. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  most  respected  brother. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Ort'g.  Aiifog.,  Library  of  LeydenJ\ 


DXLVIII. — To  Madame  de  Grammont.=^ 

Consolations  on  the  subject  of  a  domestic  affliction. 

Geneva,  28«^  October,  1559. 

Madaihj E  : — I  could  have  wished  much,  had  it  pleased  God,  to 
have  a  more  agreeable  subject  to  write  to  you  upon  for  the  first 
time,  but  it  is  highly  proper  that  we  resign  ourselves  to  be  go- 
verned according  to  the  will  of  him  to  whom  we  belong,  and 
who  has  all  superiority  and  empire  over  us ;  though  it  is  our 
duty  not  only  to  consider  his  power  and  the  obedience  which 
we  owe  him,  but  also  to  reflect  when  he  afflicts  us,  or  visits  us 
with  the  rod,  that  it  is  for  our  instruction  and  profit,  and  that  he 
will  knojv  how  to  bring  our  distress  to  a  favourable  issue,  if  we 
shall  patiently  wait  for  it. 

I  shall  not  lay  before  you  in  detail  the  uses  of  adversity, 

'  The  occasion  of  these  troubles  was  the  cowardly  assassination  of  Antony  de  Mou- 
vans,  known  to  be  a  Protestant.  The  Parliament  of  Aix,  instead  of  pursuing  the  au- 
thors of  the  crime,  caused  the  corpse  of  the  person  assassinated  to  be  thrown  into  the  fire. 

"  Doubtless  Helen  de  Clermont,  only  daughter  of  Francis  de  Clermont,  Seigneur 
de  Toulangeon  and  Treves,  married  in  1549  to  Anthony  de  Grammont,  Viscomte  of 
Aster,  Impelled  by  ambition  to  join  the  Huguenot  party,  which  he  was  one  day  to 
betray,  this  seigneur  exercised  important  functions  at  the  court  of  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, and  died  in  1576. 


1559.]  MADAME  DE  GRAMMONT.  VI 

because  this  subject  would  occupy  me  too  long,  and  also  because 
I  know  that  you  have  been  instructed  by  the  Scriptures  to  what 
purpose  we  ought  to  apply  it,  whether  it  be  to  teach  us  to  quit  this 
world  more  willingly,  and  in  the  meantime,  while  we  are  in  it, 
to  subdue  all  our  carnal  desires,  or  to  humble  ourselves,  to  show 
our  obedience,  and  exercise  our  faith  by  prayer,  to  groan  over 
our  faults,  in  order  to  obtain  pardon  ;  and,  in  one  word,  to  be 
dead  to  the  world,  in  order  to  dedicate  ourselves  to  God  as  a 
living  sacrifice. 

Passing  by  these  things,  then,  which  I  suppose  you  to  be 
thoroughly  acquainted  with,  I  now  entreat  you,  Madame,  with 
regard  to  the  domestic  misfortune  which  distresses  you,  to  im- 
press on  your  mind  that  such  trials  are  sent  to  hold  us  captive 
in  our  affections,  and  so  subdue  them  as  to  submit  to  what  God 
knows  to  be  just  and  equitable.  I  easily  conceive  what  sorrows 
you  endure,  when  you  see  your  yoke-fellow  continuing  unfaith- 
ful to  you,  and  that  even  after  having  given  you  some  hope  of 
his  amendment,  he  again  returns  to  his  debaucheries  of  former 
times.  But  the  consolations  which  the  Scriptures  hold  out  to 
us  should  needs  have  so  much  the  more  power  over  your  heart 
to  alleviate  your  sadness.  I  will  only  suggest  to  you,  that  had 
all  your  wishes  on  this  subject  been  satisfied,  how  much  you 
might  have  been  carried  away  by  vain  pleasures,  by  the  delights 
and  allurements  of  the  world,  so  as  in  part  to  forget  God.  But 
even  though  you  should  not  know  the  cause  of  God's  thus  deal- 
ing with  you,  it  nevertheless  becomes  you  so  far  to  honour  him 
as  to  deem  this  point  unquestionable ;  namely,  that,  since  he  is 
all  goodness  and  all  justice,  we  are  bound  humbly  to  receive 
what  he  sends  us,  and  that  there  is  neither  objection  nor  reply 
to  be  made  to  his  dispensations.  Exhort  yourself  then  to  pa- 
tience by  the  word  of  God,  and  strive  to  overcome  all  tempta- 
tions, by  which  I  have  no  doubt  you  are  greatly  agitated.  In 
the  mean  time,  pray  God  continually  to  convert  the  heart  of  your 
husband,  and  on  your  own  part  make  every  effort  to  w^in  him  over 
and  fix  him  in  the  right  path.  I  know  what  a  hard  task  that 
will  be  for  you,  because  you  have  been  already  several  times 
deceived,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  by  different  signs 
that  he  has  sat  but  too  long  in  the  seat  of  the  scorner.     But 


72  MADAME   DE   GKAMMONT.  [1559. 

nevertheless  you  must  still  labour  to  that  end,  as  therein  lies 
the  true  remedy. 

As  to  your  intention  of  quitting  him,  though  I  confess  it  is 
but  what  he  deserves,  yet  I  beg  and  exhort  you,  Madame,  in 
the  name  of  God  to  renounce  this  purpose,  unless  you  follow  it 
up  in  the  lawful  way.  For  if  he  shall  be  convicted  of  adultery 
before  the  tribunals,  you  will  be  held  to  be  excusable  in  sepa- 
rating from  him.  And  you  are  aware  that  if  every  one  assumed 
the  liberty  of  divorce  of  his  own  authority,  without  a  public 
sentence,  there  would  be  no  end  to  disorder.  Above  all,  you 
should  weigh  well  the  scandal  that  may  accrue  from  your  per- 
son, and  what  a  handle  it  would  give  to  the  enemies  of  God  to 
vomit  forth  their  blasphemies  and  defame  the  gospel.  When 
you  shall  have  duly  reflected  on  these  things,  you  will  find  that 
it  is  not  lawful  for  you  to  separate  from  him,  till  at  least  you 
have  observed  the  due  formalities,  and  a  public  sentence  have 
been  pronounced.  And  even  should  you  be  unsuccessful  in 
obtaining  your  rights,  it  will  be  evident  that  it  did  not  depend 
on  you  that  the  cause  was  not  judged.  Your  proceedings  will 
so  far  vindicate  your  innocence  as  to  stop  the  mouths  of  those 
who  would  seek  a  pretext  for  slander,  as  you  are  not  ignorant 
how  we  are  watched  on  every  side,  especially  those  of  us  who 
are  most  known  and  esteemed,  because  the  devil  and  the  un- 
godly have  thereby  more  ample  matter  for  their  triumphs. 
But  as  in  such  extremities  it  is  not  easy  always  to  hold  the  pro- 
per course,  the  most  important  point  is  to  pray  God  to  guide  you 
with  all  prudence  and  the  uprightness  of  his  Spirit,  so  that  you 
undertake  nothing  which  may  not  be  approved  of  and  agree- 
able to  him.  On  my  part,  also,  Madame,  I  will  supplicate  him 
to  strengthen  you  by  his  power  that  you  faint  not  under  the  bur- 
den ;  to  moderate  all  your  distresses,  so  as  they  shall  not  pre- 
vent you  from  blessing  his  holy  name ;  to  increase  you  in  all 
spiritual  blessings,  to  have  you  in  his  holy  keeping,  and  show 
you  that  you  are  the  object  of  his  care.  Whereupon  1  will 
conclude,  having  humbly  commended  me  to  your  kind  favour. 
[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.1 


15o9.]  JOHN   KXOX.  73 


DXLIX.— To  John  Knox.' 

Answers  to  diflferent  ecclesiastical  questions. 

Geneva,  1th  November,  1559. 

If  I  answer  your  letter,  most  excellent  brother,  later  than  you 
expected,  your  fellow  countryman  who  brought  it  to  mc  will  be 
the  best  witness  that  laziness  was  not  the  cause  of  my  delay. 
You  yourself  know  also  how  seldom  a  suitable  opportunity  of 
writing  to  you  occurs,  because  in  the  disturbed  state  of  affairs 
all  access  to  your  country  is  difficult.  It  was  a  source  of 
pleasure,  not  to  me  only  but  to  all  the  pious  persons  to  whom  I 
communicated  the  agreeable  tidings,  to  hear  of  the  very  great 
success  which  has  crowned  your  labours. 

But  as  we  are  astonished  at  such  incredible  progress  in  so 
brief  a  space  of  time,  so  we  likewise  give  thanks  to  God  whose 
singular  blessing  is  signally  displayed  herein.  This  aff"ords  you 
ample  matter  for  confidence  for  the  future,  and  ouglit  to  animate 
you  to  overcome  all  opposition.  As  I  am  not  ignorant  how 
strenuous  you  are  in  stirring  up  others,  and  what  abilities  and 
energies  God  has  endowed  you  with  for  going  thrOugh  with  this 
task,  I  have  deemed  it  superfluous  to  stimulate  the  brethren. 
Meanwhile  we  are  not  less  anxious  about  your  perils,  than  if  we 
were  engaged  along  with  you  in  a  common  warfare ;  and  what 
is  alone  in  our  power,  we  join  our  vows  to  yours,  that  our 
heavenly  Father  would  strike  all  your  furious  adversaries  with 
the  spirit  of  folly  and  blindness,  scatter  all  their  counsels,  and 
defeat  all  their  attempts  and  preparations.  Certainly  they 
labour  under  great  difficulties  in  arming  their  fleet ;  especially 
for  want  of  money.     So  much  the  more  obstinately  will  the  old 

'  By  a  letter  of  the  27th  August  of  the  same  year,  Knox  had  addressed  to  Calvin 
two  questions  relating  to  the  administration  of  baptism  and  to  ecclesiastical  property. 
The  message  of  the  Scotch  Reformer  terminated  with  these  words  :  "I  am  prevented 
from  writing  to  you  more  amply  by  a  fever  which  afflicts  me,  by  the  weight  of  labours 
which  oppress  me,  and  the  cannon  of  the  French  which  they  have  now  brought  over 
to  crush  us.  He  whose  cause  we  defend,  will  come  to  the  aid  of  his  own.  Be  mindful 
of  us  in  your  prayers.     Grace  be  with  you." 

10 


74  JOHN  KNOX.  [1559. 

dragon  essay  to  throw  everything  into  confusion,  rather  than 
not  attempt  something. 

Respecting  the  questions  of  which  you  ask  for  a  solution, 
after  I  had  laid  them  before  my  colleagues,  here  is  the  answer 
which  we  unanimously  resolved  to  send.  It  is  not  without 
reason  that  you  inquire  whether  it  be  lawful  to  admit  to  the 
sacrament  of  baptism  the  children  of  idolaters  and  excommuni- 
cated persons  before  their  parents  have  testified  their  repentance. 
For  we  ought  always  to  be  carefully  on  our  guard  that  the 
sanctity  of  this  mystery  be  not  profaned,  which  it  certainly 
should  be  if  it  were  promiscuously  administered  to  aliens,  or  if 
any  one  received  it  without  having  such  sponsors  as  may  be 
counted  among  the  legitimate  members  of  the  church.  But  as 
in  the  proper  use  of  baptism  the  authority  of  God  is  to  be  con- 
sidered, and  his  institution  ought  to  derive  its  authority  from 
certain  conditions,  one  of  the  first  things  to  be  considered  is 
who  are  the  persons  that  God  by  his  own  voice  invites  to  be 
baptized. 

Now  God's  promise  comprehends  not  only  the  offspring  of 
every  believer  in  the  first  line  of  descent,  but  extends  to 
thousands  of  generations.  Whence  it  has  happened  that  the 
interruption  of  piety  which  has  prevailed  in  Popery  has  not 
taken  away  from  baptism  its  force  and  efficacy.  For  we  must 
look  to  its  origin,  and  the  very  reason  and  nature  of  baptism  is 
to  be  esteemed  as  arising  from  the  promise  of  God.  To  us  then 
it  is  by  no  means  doubtful  that  an  offspring  descended  from  holy 
and  pious  ancestors,  belong  to  the  body  of  the  church,  though 
their  fathers  and  grandfathers  may  have  been  apostates.  For 
just  as  in  Popery  it  was  a  pernicious  and  insane  superstition, 
to  steal  or  forcibly  abduct  their  children  from  Jews  or  Turks, 
and  forthwith  to  have  them  baptized ;  so  likewise,  wherever  the 
profession  of  Christianity  has  not  been  altogether  interrupted 
or  destroyed,  children  are  defrauded  of  their  privileges  if  they 
are  excluded  from  the  common  symbol ;  because  it  is  unjust, 
when  God,  three  hundred  years  ago  or  more,  has  thought  them 
worthy  of  his  adoption,  that  the  subsequent  impiety  of  some 
of  their  progenitors  should  interrupt  the  course  of  heavenly 
grace.     In  fine,  as  each  person  is  not  admitted  to  baptism  from 


1559.]  JOHN  KNOX.  75 

respect  or  regard  to  one  of  his  parents  alone,  but  on  account  of 
the  perpetual  covenant  of  God ;  so  in  like  manner,  no  just  reason 
suffers  children  to  be  debarred  from  their  initiation  into  the 
church  in  consequence  of  the  bad  conduct  of  only  one  parent. 
In  the  mean  time  we  confess  that  it  is  indispensable  for  them  to 
have  sponsors.  For  nothing  is  more  preposterous  than  that 
persons  should  be  incorporated  with  Christ,  of  whom  we  have  no 
hopes  of  their  ever  becoming  his  disciples.  "Wherefore  if  none 
of  its  relations  present  himself  to  pledge  his  faith  to  the  church 
that  he  will  undertake  the  task  of  instructing  the  infant,  the  rite 
is  a  mockery  and  baptism  is  prostituted. 

But  we  see  no  reason  for  rejecting  any  child  for  whom  a  due 
pledge  has  been  given.  Add  to  these  considerations  that  the 
manner  of  proceeding  adopted  by  a  church  now  arising  from  its 
ruins,  and  that  of  one  duly  formed  and  established  are  two  very 
different  things.  For  whilst  a  church  is  being  composed  out  of 
that  horrible  state  of  dispersion,  since  the  form  of  baptism  has 
prevailed  through  a  long  series  of  ages  down  to  our  times,  it  is 
to  be  retained,  but  with  the  progress  of  time  the  abuses  which 
have  crept  in  are  to  be  corrected,  and  the  parents  forced  to  pre- 
sent their  children  themselves  and  become  the  first  sponsors. 
For  if  in  the  first  commencements  an  absolute  perfection  is 
severely  exacted,  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared  that  many  laying 
eagerly  hold  of  this  pretext  will  continue  to  wallow  in  their 
corruptions. 

We  confess  indeed  that  we  should  not  attach  so  much  im- 
portance to  anything  as  to  swerve  even  a  hair's  breadth  from  the 
line  prescribed  to  us  by  God;  but  we  imagine  we  have  demon- 
strated in  a  few  words  that  if  we  exclude  from  baptism  those 
whom  we  have  had  proofs  of  having  been  domesticated,  as  it 
were,  in  the  church,  the  exclusion  would  be  too  rigorous.  In 
the  mean  time,  therefore,  waiting  till  greater  progress  have  been 
made,  and  discipline  have  gained  strength,  let  children  be  ad- 
mitted to  baptism  on  the  condition  we  have  mentioned,  viz :  that 
their  sponsors  engage  that  they  will  make  it  their  business  to 
have  them  brought  up  in  the  principles  of  a  pious  and  uncor- 
rupted  religion.  Though  in  the  mean  time  we  do  not  deny,  that 
idolaters,  as  often  as  children   are  born  unto  them,  should  be 


76  JOHN   KNOX.  [1559. 

sharply  admonished  and  stirred  up  to  devote  themselves  truly 
to  God,  as  also  excommunicated  persons  to  be  reconciled  to  the 
church. 

To  monks  and  priests  it  is  certain  that  maintenance  is  not 
due  from  the  public  that  they  may  live  uselessly  in  idleness. 
If  any  of  them  then  are  fitted  for  edifying  the  church,  let  them 
be  called  to  take  a  part  in  that  labour.  But  as  most  of  them 
are  ignorant  and  void  of  capacity,  it  seems  proper  that  we  should 
act  towards  them  with  humanity.  For  though  they  have  no 
claim  to  receive  public  support,  inasmuch  as  they  contribute 
nothing  to  the  service  of  the  church,  yet  it  would  be  cruel  that 
those  who  have  been  inveigled  by  ignorance  and  error,  and  have 
spent  a  part  of  their  life  in  idleness,  should  be  reduced  to  desti- 
tution. They  are  to  be  admonished  indeed  rather  to  seek  their 
livelihood  from  labour,  than  devour  the  substance  destined  for 
the  ministers  of  the  church  and  the  poor.  A  middle  course,  is 
also  to  be  pursued,  as  for  example  from  rich  benefices  a  part 
might  be  set  aside  for  pious  uses.  In  the  mean  time,  however, 
provided  the  church  recover  by  their  death  the  ecclesiastical 
property,  it  does  not  seem  fitting  to  raise  a  strife  about  the 
annual  revenue,  except  that  its  present  possessors  are  to  be  re- 
minded that  they  retain  by  indulgence  and  forbearance,  not  from 
approbation,  what  they  had  never  had  any  right  to  possess.  They 
are  also  to  be  exhorted  not  to  pamper  themselves,  but  contented 
with  a  frugal  manner  of  living,  to  restore  to  the  church  what  be- 
longs to  it,  rather  than  suffer  it  to  be  deprived  of  faithful  pastors, 
or  the  pastors  themselves  to  be  starved. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  sir  and  our  very  dear  brother.  The 
whole  assembly  of  the  pious  in  our  name  wish  you  prosperity ; 
and  we  pray  God  that  he  may  govern  you  all  by  his  Spirit  even 
to  the  end,  sustain  you  by  his  power,  and  shield  you  with  his 
protection. 

[Calvin's  Lat.  corresp.,  Opera,  ix.  p.  201.] 


1559.]  FRANCIS   DANIEL.  77 

DL, — To  Francis  Daniel.' 

News  of  young  Daniel  studying  at  the  Academy  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  26</i  Xovemhei;  1559. 

Your  allowing  me  to  implore  you  in  behalf  of  your  son,  and 
granting  him  forgiveness  at  my  earnest  entreaties,  is  a  favour  very 
grateful  to  me,  and  which  brings  back  the  pleasing  recollections 
of  our  early  friendship  which  I  perceive  you  have  not  forgotten. 
The  young  man  himself  I  have  seriously  admonished  not  to 
abandon  the  study  of  the  civil  law.  At  first  he  replied  that  he 
had  no  great  taste  for  that  science,  from  which  he  expected  to 
derive  no  advantage ;  and  when  he  represented  to  me  the  nume- 
rous corrupt  practices  that  now  almost  universally  prevail  in 
civil  actions,  I  confess  he  had  very  plausible  reasons  for  not  en- 
gaging willingly  in  such  pursuits.  But  after  I  had  reminded 
him  of  his  duty,  and  that  he  could  not  escape  from  the  charge 
of  ingratitude  unless  he  complied  with  your  wishes,  he  promised 
that  he  would  submit  to  whatever  by  your  orders  I  should  pre- 
scribe. But  though  overcome  by  my  authority  he  yielded,  not 
to  conceal  from  you  any  thing,  I  must  say  that  I  perceived  that 
against  his  inclinations  this  consent  was  wrung  from  him.  As 
far,  however,  as  my  occupations  will  permit,  I  shall  make  it  my 
business  to  watch  over  him  and  prevent  him  from  overstepping 
the  limits  of  authority  at  the  caprice  of  his  own  will.  For  there 
is  no  reason  to  fear  that  he  will  give  himself  up  to  the  excesses 
which  too  often  characterize  the  impetuosity  of  his  age,  though 
perhaps  in  time  I  may  perceive  that  he  will  not  have  made  the 
progress  in  civil  law  that  one  could  wish.  We  shall  have  to 
take  counsel  from  circumstances,  for  you  know  how  difficult  a 
thing  it  is  to  force  generous  natures.  I  shall  also  take  care 
that  he  apply  himself  to  the  politer  branches  of  learning,  to 
which  he  may  at  the  same  time  add  the  study  of  theology. 
Assuredly  it  is  especially  necessary,  whatever  be  the  career  for 
which  you  destine  him,  that  he  should  be  carefully  imbued  with 
sentiments  of  piety.     Hitherto  I  do  not  see  why  his  departure 

'  See  the  letter  to  the  same,  p.  60. 


78  MONSIEUR    DE    CLERVANT.  [1559. 

should  cause  you  any  regret,  since  from  it  very  desirable  eiFects 
have  already  resulted.  Would  to  God  that  in  your  turn  you 
too  could  extricate  yourself  from  the  snares  in  which  you  are 
held  entangled.  He  shall  receive  monthly  the  allowance  about 
"which  you  have  given  me  directions  in  your  letter.  Moreover, 
as  the  coat  with  which  he  left  home  was  stolen  from  him  at 
Lyons,  it  was  not  possible  to  refuse  to  let  him  have  another 
•which  cost  very  little,  in  order  to  protect  him  from  the  winter's 
cold.  So  much  for  the  present.  If  anything  new  shall  occur 
in  the  course  of  time,  I  shall  not  fail  to  inform  you  of  it  most 
punctually.  Since  I  cannot  otherwise  consult  for  the  eternal 
welfare  of  our  friend  Flamberge,  I  will  pray  that  he  may  be  en- 
dowed with  a  sounder  mind  than  to  waste  his  life  in  his  present 
filthy  dregs.  Of  the  father  of  Bonrepos^  what  can  I  say,  who 
acquiesces  with  but  too  much  security  in  all  the  pollutions  of 
Popery?  May  God  govern  you  all  with  his  spirit,  protect  and 
sustain  you  by  his  power,  enrich  you  with  heavenly  gifts,  and 
pour  out  his  blessing  more  and  more  upon  your  family. 

Again  and  again,  farewell,  most  excellent  sir,  and  honoured 
friend. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Berne,  Coll.  Bongars.    Vol.  141.  p.  47-1 


DLL — To  Monsieur  de  Clervant.^ 

Marks  of  sympathy  on  the  occasion  of  the  exile  to  which  this  seigneur  was  condcnanod. 

Geneva,  November,  1559. 

Sir,  and  honoured  brother,  when  I  exhorted  you  some  time 
ago  not  to  yield,  I  meant  not  only  that  you  should  hold  out 

'  In  the  originsil  text :  Quid  de  jwtre  Tionae  qnietia  dicam? 

'  Anthony  Cliiude  do  Viennc,  Baron  de  Clervant,  banished  from  Metz  in  1558,  on  ac- 
count of  his  attachment  to  the  Reformation.  He  returned  there  the  following  year,  by  the 
protection  of  the  Oi^rman  princes,  and  caused  the  gospel  to  bo  preached  at  his  chateau 
de  Montoy,  by  the  minister  Peter  do  Cologne,  whom  ho  had  brought  with  him  from 
Geneva.  This  minister  wrote  to  Calvin:  "I  am  still  with  M.  do  Clervant  in  his 
chateau,  which  is  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  town.  I  there  preach  two  sermons 
on  the  Sundays,  and  one  on  the  Wednesdays.     A  few  peasants  from  the  neighbouring 


1559.]  MOXSIEFR    DE    CLERVAXT.  79 

courageously  in  tout  chateau,  but  also  that  whatever  should 
happen,  you  should  not  flinch  from  your  constancy  in  the  faith ; 
as  our  most  impregnable  stronghold  is  to  call  on  God,  and  in 
the  confident  hope  of  his  assistance  to  resist  all  the  opposition 
vhich  Satan  and  his  agents  contrive  against  us.  And  in  truth 
it  is  now  more  than  ever  that  it  behoves  you  to  put  in  practice 
this  doctrine ;  for  you  are  exposed  to  no  small  temptation  in 
being  compelled  to  quit  your  house  and  earthly  goods,  and  bid 
farewell  to  your  country,  in  order  to  remain  constant  and  un- 
shaken in  the  profession  which  you  have  made  of  following  the 
uncorrupted  truth  of  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Thus  as  your  enemies  have  had  permission  to  carry  their  evil 
intentions  so  far  as  even  to  wish  to  have  the  place  razed,  which 
you  had  dedicated  to  the  word  of  God  for  the  instruction  of 
yourself  and  many  believers,  you  have  now  to  combat  in  another 
fashion.  It  is  true  that  during  your  absence  your  house  cannot 
be  a  sanctuary  of  God  in  which  he  is  served  and  adored,  but 
this  blessing  remains,  that  wherever  you  go,  you  will  carry  his 
temple  along  with  you.  On  the  other  hand,  I  hope  that  this 
storm  will  ere  long  blow  over,  so  that  the  evil  intentioned  will 
find  their  designs  defeated ;  and  when  thev  fancy  that  thev 
have  gained  their  ends,  and  ruined  what  God  by  your  means 
had  erected,  all  will  be  anew  established.  For  when  they  seem 
like  thunderbolts  to  destroy  everything,  God  causes  them  to  be 
scattered  like  clouds,  without  doing  the  tenth  part  of  the  evil 
which  was  apprehended. 

I  conceive  a  part  of  the  anguish  with  which  you  must  now  be 


villages,  and  also  some  persons  from  the  town  come  together  to  hear  them."  11th 
JIareh.  1559,  MSS.  of  Paris.  Dupur.  102.  The  death  of  Henry  II..  it  was  thought, 
should  have  operated  some  change  in  the  sad  condition  of  the  Protestants  of  Metz ; 
but  letters  of  Francis  II.,  written  at  the  instigation  of  the  Marquis  of  Senneterr*. 
governor  of  the  town,  enjoined  the  persons  professing  the  Reformed  religion  to  quit 
the  country:  "and  Clervant  was  expressly  ordered  to  abstain  from  holding  any  as- 
semblies or  conventicles,  on  pain  of  having  his  house  pulled  down  and  razed,  and  his 
person  proceeded  against  according  to  the  enormity  of  his  fault."  Hiet.  Eccl.  Vol.  III. 
p.  443.  The  Protestants  of  Metz  obtained  a  year's  delay,  to  put  their  affairs  in  order, 
and  M.  de  Clervant,  yielding  to  the  storm,  withdrew  to  Strasbourg.  He  returned  to 
his  country  after  the  edict  of  January,  and  played  a  distinguished  part  in  the  religious 
wars.  See  Hitt.  Eccl.  Vol.  III.  pp.  47S  and  -179,  and  Ancillon,  Vie  de  Farel,  Amster- 
dam, 1694,  pp.  267  to  270. 


80  THE   BRETHREN    OF   FRANCE.  [1559. 

afflicted ;  but  since  you  have  long  repeated  your  lesson  in  the  school 
of  the  Son  of  God,  I  trust  that  you  will  neither  be  overcome  nor 
discouraged,  though  you  should  still  have  much  more  to  endure. 
You  must  even  prepare  yourself  for  greater  and  ruder  assaults,  as 
I  have  no  doubt  but  God  will  soon  grant  you  an  opportunity  of 
returning  to  the  place  which  you  have  quitted,  in  order  to  oppose 
the  enemies  more  vigorously  than  ever,  and  hold  them  more  closely 
in  check.  Though  we  know  not  the  revolutions  which  it  is  the 
will  of  God  to  bring  round,  yet  most  certainly  we  perceive  very 
striking  signs  of  them.  Nevertheless,  though  everything  should 
be  involved  in  tenfold  greater  confusion,  all  we  have  to  do  is  to 
hold  on  our  course.  You  know  what  cause  it  is  which  you  de- 
fend, and  that  even  should  things  take  the  worst  turn,  the  fruits 
of  our  victory  are  reserved  for  us  in  heaven,  and  cannot  fail  us. 
I  am  very  sorry  that  I  am  not  nearer  you,  to  be  able  to  acquit 
myself  a  little  better  of  my  duty  in  consoling  and  fortifying  you. 
But  our  merciful  Father  will  not  fail  you.  I  trust  also  that  you 
will  derive  much  comfort  from  our  brother  who  has  followed 
you,  as  well  as  from  M.  Emmanuel  Tremelli. 

To  conclude,  sir,  having  affectionately  commended  me  to 
your  kind  favour,  I  will  entreat  the  Father  of  mercies  to  keep 
you  always  under  his  protection,  to  sustain  you  by  his  invinci- 
ble power,  and  provide  for  you  and  your  family,  as  he  shall  find 
it  expedient. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLII. — To  THE  Brethren  of  France.' 

He  exhorts  them  to  redouble  their  faith  to  meet  their  redoubled  persecutions,  and  to 
live  and  die  for  the  confession  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Geneva,  Noveviher,  1559. 

Dearly  beloved  Brethren  : — I  have  no  doubt  but  certain 
persons  will  think  me  importunate  for  writing  to  you  at  the  pre- 

'  The  death  of  Henry  IL  (10th  July,  1559)  and  the  accession  of  the  young  king 
Francis  IL,  who  was  ruled  by  the  Guises,  rendered  the  situation  of  the  Protestants 


1559.]  THE  BRETHREN  OF  FRANCE.  8"! 

sent  moment,  while  the  cruelty  of  the  ungodly  rages  with  such 
fur}^  against  the  Christians,  and  while  it  requires  so  little  to 
exasperate  it  more  and  more.  But  those  who  think  so  are  mis- 
taken; for  it  is  in  times  like  these  that  you  have  most  need  of 
exhortations  to  give  you  courage.  Persecutions  are  the  true 
combats  of  Christians  to  try  the  constancy  and  firmness  of  their 
faith.  Wherefore  being  assailed,  what  ought  they  to  do  but  to 
fly  to  arms? 

Now  our  arms  to  combat  valiantly  in  this  cause,  and  resist  the 
enemy,  are  to  fortify  ourselves  by  what  God  shows  us  in  his 
word.  And  just  as  each  of  us  feels  himself  more  timid,  so  ought 
he  to  seek  for  the  remedy.  And  herein  we  see  how  much  most 
men  are  apt  to  flatter  themselves  in  their  infirmities,  for  those 
who  are  from  weakness  most  disposed  to  be  thrown  into  con- 
sternation are  those  who  most  refuse  to  seek  strength  from  God 
by  the  means  which  he  has  appointed.  Learn  then,  my  brethren, 
that  this  is  the  true  season  to  write  to  you,  when  the  fire  of  per- 
secutions is  lighted,  and  when  the  alarms  of  the  poor  church  of 
God  are  cai-ried  to  an  extremity.  AYe  see  that  the  worthy  martyrs 
followed  this  practice — to  be  so  much  the  more  vigilant  in  stir- 
ring up  one  another  by  holy  admonitions,  as  they  saw  their 
tyrants  employing  greater  efforts  to  ruin  Christianity.  There 
then  is  an  example  for  us  to  follow.  And  in  fact  we  hear  that 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  after  having  warned  the  disciples  of  the 

more  cruel.  Informers  multiplied  the  number  of  suspected  persons  whom  the  cJnimlrea 
ardentes,  instituted  by  the  edict  of  Blois  for  that  purpose,  handed  over  to  the  execu- 
tioner. "  From  the  month  of  August  to  the  month  of  March  of  the  following  year," 
says  the  historian  of  the  martyrs,  "  there  was  nothing  but  arrestations  and  imprison- 
Ihents,  pillage  of  houses,  outlawries,  and  massacres  of  the  servants  of  God.  God, 
however,  amid  these  storms  and  tempests  preserved  the  residue  of  his  church,  and 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  was  not  abandoned."  The  language  of  Beza  is  not  less 
expressive  : — "  We  may  say  of  this  reign  which  lasted  only  seventeen  months,  what 
Jesus  Christ  says  in  St.  Matthew,  viz :  '  Except  those  days  should  be  shortened  there 
should  no  flesh  be  saved ;  but  for  the  elect's  sake  those  days  shall  be  shortened.' 
Notwithstanding  this  He  who  suffers  not  his  own  to  be  loaded  beyond  what  they  can 
bear,  gave  such  assistance  to  his  lambs,  that  were  for  the  most  part  only  newly  born, 
and  in  like  manner  to  the  pastors  who  had  just  begun  to  arrange  them  in  little  flocks, 
that  amid  all  those  storms,  they  not  only  subsisted,  but,  what  is  more,  assumed  a 
regular  order,  and  increased  their  numbers  in  many  parts  of  the  kingdom.'" — llist. 
Eccl.  Vol.  I.  p.  212,  and  Hist,  des  Martyrs,  Liv.  vii.  p.  464.  Disseminated  from 
church  to  church,  and  multiplied  by  pious  hands,  the  letters  of  the  Reformer  spread 
everywhere  courage  and  self-denial. 
11 


82  THE    BRETHREN    OF    FRANCE.  [1559. 

great  troubles  which  were  to  come,  and  of  which  we  see  a  part, 
adds :  Rejoice,  and  lift  up  your  heads,  for  your  redemption  is  at 
hand.  If  we  do  not  rejoice,  at  least  we  ought  to  strive  to  cor- 
rect the  vice  which  prevents  us  from  so  doing. 

I  know  the  dangers  to  which  you  are  exposed,  and  I  would 
not  from  inconsiderate  zeal  put  a  new  sword  into  the  hands  of 
these  enraged  enemies ;  but  yet  it  is  necessary  to  set  bounds  to 
our  own  fears,  so  that  those  who  have  need  of  being  strength- 
ened by  the  word  of  God  be  not  deprived  of  such  a  blessing ; 
I  leave  you  to  judge  if  you  do  not  see  much  unbelief  among  you, 
inasmuch  as  many  are  downcast  as  if  God  were  no  longer  a 
living  God.  Thence  you  may  judge  that  it  is  the  more  ne- 
cessary for  me,  as  much  as  in  me  lies,  to  endeavour  to  correct 
this  defect,  in  order  that  the  grace  of  God  be  not  altogether 
quenched  in  you.  It  is  no  new  thing  for  you  to  be  like  sheep 
in  the  jaws  of  the  wolf;  but  the  rage  of  your  foes  is  at  present 
more  than  ever  inflamed  to  destroy  the  poor  flock  of  Jesus 
Christ.  And  it  is  not  only  in  one  place;  reflect  that  your 
brethren  who  are  members  of  the  same  body,  have  to  suifer  like 
you  for  the  same  cause  in  distant  countries.  It  is  therefore  the 
time  to  show  more  than  ever  that  we  have  not  been  taught  in 
vain.  We  are  bound  to  live  and  die  for  Him  who  died  for  us, 
for  our  faith  is  not  styled  a  victory  over  the  world  merely  to 
make  us  triumph  in  the  shade  and  without  a  struggle;  but  much 
rather  that  we  should  be  armed  by  it  to  overcome  Satan  with 
all  that  he  can  devise  against  us;  and  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel 
is  not  for  us  to  speculate  about  at  our  ease,  but  to  demonstrate, 
by  its  eff"ects,  that  the  world  should  be  held  cheap  by  us  in  com- 
parison of  the  heavenly  kingdom. 

Wherefore  those  that  are  so  terrified  in  the  time  of  persecu- 
tion that  they  know  not  how  to  act,  have  not  profited  much  as 
yet  in  the  school  of  God.  If  there  is  terror,  that  is  nothing 
new ;  for  as  we  are  men,  it  is  not  possible  that  we  should  not  be 
environed  by  human  passions.  And  since  God  supports  our 
infirmity,  it  is  but  reasonable  that  we  should  do  the  like.  Even 
those  who  feel  themselves  shaken  with  astonishment  ought  not 
to  lose  heart,  as  if  they  were  already  vanquished.  But  the 
capital  point  is  that  instead  of  indulging  this  weakness  we  should 


1559.]  THE  BRETHREN  OF  FRANCE.  83 

seek  to  shake  it  off  and  be  re-animated  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  I 
say  then  that  nothing  is  more  opposite  to  Christianity,  of  which 
we  make  a  profession,  than  that  when  the  Son  of  God  our 
captain  calls  us  to  the  combat,  we  should  be  not  only  cold  and  faint 
hearted,  but  seized  with  such  consternation  as  to  desert  his 
standard.  Let  us  then  strive  against  our  flesh,  seeing  that  it  is 
our  greatest  enemy,  and  that  we  may  obtain  pardon  of  God  let 
us  not  pardon  ourselves,  but  rather  let  us  be  our  own  judges  to 
condemn  ourselves.  Let  each  as  he  finds  himself  tardy,  push  him- 
self on,  and  let  all  of  us  collectively,  knowing  that  we  do  not  do 
our  duty,  be  pleased  to  be  stirred  up  by  others,  and  may  God 
let  us  feel  the  spur  as  often  as  he  knows  that  our  indolence 
requires  it. 

The  thing  most  calculated  to  terrify  us  is  the  enormous 
cruelty  practised  against  our  poor  brethren.  In  fact  it  is  a 
frightful  spectacle,  and  one  which  might  well  make  the  incon- 
stant shudder.  But  we  ought  on  the  other  hand  to  contemplate 
the  invincible  courage  with  which  God  has  endowed  them.  For 
in  some  way  or  other  they  surmount  all  the  torments  which  the 
ungodly  can  devise  to  cast  down  their  courage.  So  then  Satan, 
on  the  one  hand,  is  contriving  everything  to  trouble  the  poor 
brethren  to  make  them  swerve  from  the  truth  and  turn  aside 
from  the  path  of  salvation.  With  unbridled  rage  he  vents 
against  them  all  his  spite.  While  on  the  other,  God  mean  while 
assists  them,  and  though  they  suffer  extreme  anguish  according 
to  the  weakness  of  the  flesh,  yet  still  do  they  persevere  in  the 
confession  of  his  name.  In  that  you  see  they  are  victorious. 
Should  then  the  cruelty  of  the  adversaries,  which  in  spite  of  all 
their  eS'orts  is  vanquished,  have  more  weight  with  you  to  deaden 
your  hearts,  than  that  power  from  on  high,  with  which  God  aids 
his  children,  ought  to  have  to  increase  in  you  the  perseverance 
which  you  should  maintain  in  his  truth  ?  You  see  the  assistance 
of  God  which  remains  victorious  and  will  you  not  repose  your 
confidence  in  it?  You  see  the  faith  which  triumphs  in  the 
martyrs,  who  endure  death,  and  shall  it  be  the  cause  of  annihi- 
lating yours?  Wherefore,  my  brethren,  when  the  tyrants  ex- 
haust all  their  fury,  learn  to  turn  your  eyes  to  contemplate  the 
succour  which  God  affords  his  followers ;  and  seeing  that  they  are 


84  THE   BRETHREN   OF   FRANCE.  [1559. 

not  forsaken  by  him,  take  new  comfort  and  cease  not  to  war 
against  the  temptations  of  your  flesh,  till  you  have  attained  the 
full  conviction  that  we  are  happy  in  belonging  to  Christ  whether 
it  be  to  die  or  to  live. 

I  am  aware  what  reflections  may  here  present  themselves  to 
our  minds;  that  in  the  meantime  the  servants  of  God  do  never- 
theless sufi"er,  and  that  the  wicked  from  the  impunity  with  which 
they  commit  their  acts  of  cruelty,  break  out  more  and  more  into 
all  sorts  of  excesses.  But  since  it  is  our  duty  to  suffer,  we 
ought  humbly  to  submit ;  as  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  his  church 
be  subjected  to  such  conditions  that  even  as  the  plough  passes 
over  the  field,  so  should  the  ungodly  have  leave  to  pass  their 
sword  over  us  all  from  the  least  to  the  greatest.  According  then 
to  what  is  said  in  the  psalm,  we  should  prepare  our  back  for 
stripes.  If  that  condition  is  hard  and  painful,  let  us  be  satisfied 
that  our  heavenly  Father  in  exposing  us  to  death,  turns  it  to 
our  eternal  welfare.  And  indeed  it  is  better  for  us  to  sufi"er  for 
his  name,  without  flinching,  than  to  possess  his  word  without 
being  visited  by  afiliction.  For  in  prosperity  we  do  not  expe- 
rience the  worth  of  his  assistance  and  the  power  of  his  Spirit, 
as  when  we  are  oppressed  by  men.  That  seems  strange  to  us ; 
but  he  who  sees  more  clearly  than  we,  knows  far  better  what  is 
advantageous  for  us.  Now  when  he  permits  his  children  to  be 
afllicted,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  for  their  good.  Thus 
we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  whatever  he  orders,  is  the  best 
thing  we  could  desire. 

If  we  are  not  satisfied  with  that,  he  shows  us  that  as  much  as 
our  faith  is  more  precious  than  gold  or  silver,  so  it  is  the  more 
reasonable  that  it  should  be  tried.  Also  it  is  by  this  means 
that  we  are  mortified,  in  order  not  to  be  rooted  in  our  love  for 
tliis  world,  and  more  evil  affections  than  we  can  imagine  are 
thus  corrected,  were  it  but  to  teach  us  humility  and  bring  down 
that  pride  which  is  always  greater  in  us  than  it  ought  to  be. 
By  it  he  also  wishes  to  put  us  in  mind  of  the  esteem  in  which 
we  ought  to  hold  his  word ;  for  if  it  cost  us  nothing  we  should 
not  know  its  worth.  He  permits  us  then  to  be  afllicted  for  it, 
in  order  to  show  us  how  very  precious  he  considers  it.  But 
above  all  by  sufferings  he  wishes  us  to  be  conformed  to  the 


1559.]  THE  BRETHREN  OF  FRANCE.  85 

image  of  his  Son,  as  it  is  fitting  that  there  should  he  conformity 
between  the  head  and  the  members.  Let  us  not  then  suppose 
that  we  are  forsaken  of  God  when  we  suffer  persecution  for  his 
truth,  but  rather  he  so  disposes  matters  for  our  greater  good. 
If  that  is  repugnant  to  our  senses,  it  is  so  because  we  are  always 
more  inclined  to  seek  for  our  rest  here  below  than  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  Now  since  our  triumph  is  in  heaven,  we  must 
be  prepared  for  the  combat  while  we  live  here  upon  earth. 

Moreover,  my  brethren,  from  the  example  that  is  now  set  be- 
fore you,  learn  that  God  will  strengthen  you  in  proportion  to 
your  necessities.  For  he  knows  well  how  to  adapt  the  measure 
of  our  temptations  to  the  strength  with  which  it  is  his  will  to 
endow  us  in  order  to  endure  them.  We  are  sufficiently  ad- 
monished, besides,  by  the  Scriptures,  that  tyrants  can  do  nothing 
more  against  us  than  what  our  merciful  Father  permits  them. 
Now  in  permitting  them,  he  knows  who  we  are,  and  will  thus 
provide  for  the  issue.  The  cause  then  of  our  great  consterna- 
tion is  that  looking  at  our  own  weakness  we  do  not  turn  our 
eyes  to  the  succour  which  we  ought  to  expect  and  demand  of 
God.  So  it  is  but  just  that  he  come  not  to  our  aid  since  we 
do  not  seek  for  him.  We  must  even  hope,  that  when  he  shall 
have  tried  his  church,  he  will  bridle  the  fury  of  the  tyrants  and 
cause  it  to  cease  in  despite  of  all  their  efforts.  In  waiting  for 
such  an  issue  it  is  our  duty  to  possess  our  souls  in  patience. 
Most  certainly  he  will  accomplish  what  he  has  promised  in  the 
psalm,  which  I  have  already  quoted,  viz :  that  lie  will  break  the 
cords  of  the  plough  which  they  drag  over  us  to  cut  and  destroy 
us,  and  in  another  passage — that  the  sceptre  of  the  ungodly  zvill 
not  remain  for  ever  in  their  inheritance,  for  fear  the  just  stretch 
out  their  hands  to  do  evil.  Whatever  happen,  do  you  profit  by 
the  constancy  with  which  you  see  your  brethren  endure  perse- 
cution to  support  the  truth  of  God,  that  it  may  confirm  you  to 
persevere  in  the  faith. 

It  has  been  said  of  old  that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the 
seed  of  the  church.  If  it  is  a  seed  from  which  we  derive  our 
origin  in  Jesus  Christ,  it  should  also  be  a  shower  to  water  us 
that  we  may  grow  and  make  progress,  even  so  as  to  die  well. 
For  if  this  blood  is  precious  in  the  sight  of  God,  it  ought  not 


86  THE    BRETHREN    OF    FRANCE.  [1559. 

to  be  unprofitable  for  us ;  tbus  we  see  that  St.  Paul  boasts  that 
his  bonds  have  contributed  to  the  advancement  of  the  gospel 
and  expects  that  in  his  death  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  will  be 
exalted.  The  reason  is  that  when  we  are  persecuted  we  are 
called  by  God  to  maintain  his  cause,  being,  as  it  were,  his  attor- 
neys ;  not  that  he  has  need  of  us  or  that  we  are  proper  for  that, 
but  since  he  does  us  the  honour  to  employ  us  therein,  it  is  not  his 
will  that  we  should  lose  our  pains.  Wherefore  we  ought  to  have 
in  the  utmost  detestation  that  blasphemy  of  ancient  hypocrites 
who  murmur  against  those  who  glorify  the  name  of  God,  even 
to  the  oflFering  up  of  their  own  lives,  just  as  if  by  the  confes- 
sion of  their  Christianity  these  martyrs  created  scandal.  Such 
persons  have  never  known  what  Jesus  Christ  is,  but  have  forged 
to  themselves  an  idol  under  his  name,  when  they  reckon  for  a 
scandal  what  ought  to  stand  for  a  signature  to  ratify  more  and 
more  to  our  consciences  the  truth  of  the  gospel.  And  since 
they  are  not  ashamed  to  despise  the  servants  of  God  for  their 
rashness,  because  the  latter  expose  themselves  to  death  to  de- 
fend the  cause  of  God's  Son,  they  will  feel  one  day  to  their  sore 
confusion,  how  much  more  agreeable  this  temerity,  as  they  style 
it,  is  to  God  than  their  wisdom,  or  rather  the  diabolical  cun- 
ning which  they  display,  in  denying  the  truth  in  order  to  exempt 
themselves  from  all  danger.  It  is  horrible  that  those  who  call 
themselves  Christians  should  be  so  stupid,  or  rather  brutalized, 
as  to  renounce  Jesus  Christ  as  soon  as  he  displays  his  cross. 
As  for  you,  my  brethren,  hold  in  reverence  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  which  is  shed  for  a  testimony  to  the  truth,  as  being  de- 
dicated and  consecrated  to  the  glory  of  God ;  then  apply  it  for 
your  edification,  stirring  yourselves  up  to  follow  their  example. 
But  if  you  do  not  yet  feel  in  yourselves  such  an  inclination, 
pray  God  that  he  may  give  it  you,  groaning  because  of  your 
infirmity,  which  holds  you  back  from  doing  your  duty ;  for,  as 
I  said  in  the  beginning,  it  is  far  too  dangerous  a  thing  to  flatter 
ourselves  in  our  infirmities.  For  faith  cannot  be  long  lulled  to 
sleep  without  being  at  last  quenched,  as  the  example  of  these 
worldly-wise  dissemblers  shows  us,  who,  desiring  with  their  false 
pretences  to  play  fast  and  loose  with  God,  come  at  last  to 
lose  all  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  as  if  they  had  never  heard 


1560.]  BULLINGEK.  87 

of  it.  Meanwhile,  since  you  sec  that  the  poor  flock  of  God's 
Son  is  scattered  by  the  wolves,  repair  to  him,  praying  him 
have  to  compassion  on  you  and  strengthen  your  weakness, 
to  stretch  out  his  mighty  arm  to  repel  them,  to  shut  their 
bloody  mouths  and  break  their  claws,  or  finally  to  change  them 
into  harmless  lambs.  Above  all,  pray  him  to  make  mani- 
fest that  he  is  seated  on  the  right  hand  of  God  his  Fatlier 
to  maintain  both  the  honour  of  his  majesty  and  the  salvation 
of  his  children.  It  is  in  this  way  that  you  will  derive 
relief  from  him,  humbling  yourselves  with  tears  and  prayers, 
and  not  in  murmuring  and  gnashing  your  teeth  against  the 
tyrants,  as  some  do  who  seek  not  the  refuge  to  which  persecu- 
tions ought  to  drive  us.  For  my  own  part,  1  could  wish  that 
God  had  given  me  the  means  of  being  nearer  at  hand  to  assist 
you,  but  since  that  is  not  possible  I  will  pray  our  merciful  Fa- 
ther that  since  he  has  once  confided  you  to  the  keeping  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  would  cause  you  to  feel  how  safe  you  are 
under  so  good  a  protector,  to  the  end  that  you  may  cast  all 
your  cares  upon  him  ;  and  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  have  com- 
passion on  you  and  all  those  who  are  in  affliction,  delivering 
you  from  the  hands  of  the  ungodly.  And  as  he  has  once  made 
you  partakers  of  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  that  he  would, 
from  day  to  day,  increase  you  therein,  making  it  bring  forth 
fruits  to  his  glory.     Amen. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLIII. — To   BULLINGER. 

Complaint  of  the  unjust  proceedings  of  Borne  with  respect  to  Geneva, 

Geneva,  2bth  Jamwry,  1560. 

I  did  not  dare,  when  I  wrote  to  you  lately,  to  make  any  men- 
tion of  the  injuries  we  are  daily  sufi"ering  in  order  not  to  din 
your  cars  with  vain  complaints.'     But  our  friend  Prevot  has 

'  The  settlement  of  the  diflBculties  pending  between  Berne  and  Geneva,  (see  vol.  iii., 
pp.  309,  3.39,  348,)  had  been  submitted  to  an  assembly  convoked  at  Moudon,  the  22d 
of  January  1559,  and  presided  by  the  arbiter  of  Bale.  The  Bernese  demanded  the 
execution  of  the  sentence  of  the  Bailiff  of  Ternier;  the  Genevese  that  it  should  bo 


88  BULLINGER.  [1560. 

done  well  in  laying  an  undisguised  account  of  tliera  before  you. 
We  give  you  our  most  hearty  thanks,  moreover,  for  having 
deigned  with  your  well-known  equity  and  courage  resolutely  to 
undertake  this  cause.  Our  society  would  wish,  also,  to  testify 
in  a  formal  manner  their  gratitude,  but  as  that  is  not  permitted 
them,  they  willingly  acknowledge  how  much  they  are  indebted 
to  you.  You  could  never  believe  to  how  many  unworthy  insults 
and  vexations  we  have  been  exposed,  during  nearly  a  whole 
year.  Nor  have  they  proceeded  against  us  with  any  colour  of 
justice,  but  in  the  mere  insolence  of  pride.  At  length,  rendered 
somewhat  favourably  disposed  by  the  blandest  of  admonitions, 
and  even  by  our  obsequiousness,  they  have  shown  some  signs  of 
relaxing  their  obstinacy.  For  they  wrote  that  they  would  send 
deputies  hither  to  arrange  matters  to  our  satisfaction.  The  de- 
puties arrived  with  a  profusion  of  promises.  But  when  we 
were  to  hold  a  conference,  they  begged  to  be  excused,  saying 
they  had  received  no  positive  instructions.  The  deputies  were 
expected  two  days  before  the  arrival  of  our  friend  Prevot.  It 
is  thus  evident  that  they  had  been  watching  for  an  opportunity 
to  overreach  us.  For  they  had  indicated,  through  their  depu- 
ties, that  they  were  prepared  to  come  to  an  amicable  adjustment 
of  all  the  points  in  dispute  between  us.  Meanwhile  their  con- 
ditions were  intricate,  doubtful,  and  full  of  ambiguity.  They 
refuse  to  ratify  any  thing,  unless  the  sentence  of  the  arbiter  of 
Bale  should  be  previously  annulled,  a  concession  which  we  could 
by  no  means  make.  But  because  they  exhorted  our  senate  to 
send  a  deputation  to  the  Swiss  diet  in  order  to  recommend  to 

annulled.  The  two  parties  could  not  come  to  an  agreement,  and  the  arbiter  of  Bale 
did  not  venture  to  pronounce  judgment.  On  the  6th  of  August  following,  he  gave 
Bentence  in  favour  of  the  Genevese,  but  the  Bernese  refused  to  submit  to  it,  and  ap- 
pealed to  another  tribunal,  which  confirmed  the  sentence  of  the  arbiter,  and  settled 
the  difference  by  the  mutual  agreement  of  the  parties.  During  this  long  contesta- 
tion between  the  two  cities,  the  property  of  the  refugees  had  been  sold  to  cover  the 
expenses  of  justice.  The  Seigneury  of  Berne  presented  on  this  subject  a  last  recla- 
mation to  that  of  Geneva. 

25  Nov.,  1560. — "Letter  of  Messieurs  of  Berne,  by  which  they  beg  us  to  restore 
the  property  of  the  said  condemned  persons. 

"  Resolved  to  answer  them  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  restore  to  the  said  con- 
demned persons  their  pretended  property,  and  that  had  there  been  more  of  it,  it 
■would  not  meet  the  costs  and  damages  sustained  by  us." 

(Extracts  from  the  registers  of  the  councils.) 


1560.]  FRANCIS   DANIEL.  89 

them  the  liberties  and  tranquillity  of  this  city,  and  that  more- 
over no  alliance  should  be  concluded  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy 
in  which  there  should  not  be  included  a  special  proviso  guaran- 
teeing to  us  our  rights  and  security,  that  point  was  willingly 
conceded.  Nay,  it  had  been  previously  decreed.  But  as  they 
entertained  suspicions  of  us,  they  wished  by  this  recommenda- 
tion to  discover  what  were  our  intentions,  or  if  there  should  be 
any  delay  or  hesitation  on  our  part,  that  it  might  furnish  them 
with  a  decent  excuse  in  case  they  should  conclude  any  treaty 
with  Savoy  to  our  detriment.  Deputies  will  be  sent  to  Baden 
accordingly.  Now  the  advice  and  protection  of  your  illustri- 
ous senate  are  much  desired  by  us  in  this  affair.  It  was  not 
agreeable  to  the  plan  adopted  by  us  that  I  should  write  to  your 
senate.  Instructions  have  consequently  been  given  to  our  friend 
Prevot  to  be  communicated  to  private  friends  which  will  serve 
the  same  purpose  as  far  as  the  nature  of  the  question  will  per- 
mit. I  will  not  urge  you  and  our  friend  Gualter  at  greater 
length  to  persist  in  the  course  of  the  pious  office  you  have  so 
happily  commenced,  as  I  know  from  the  account  of  our  brother 
and  friend  how  much  you  have  the  matter  at  heart,  and  he  him- 
self, with  his  well-known  address,  will  effect  more  than  I  could 
obtain  by  a  letter. 

Farewell,  then,  most  excellent  sir  and  honoured  brother,  along 
with  M.  Peter  Martyr,  M.  Gualter,  and  your  other  colleagues. 
May  the  Lord  protect  you  all,  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and 
enrich  you  with  every  blessing. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Laf.  Orig.  Autog.,  Arch,  of  Zurich,  Gest.  VI.,  166,  p.  45. 1 


DLIV.— To  Francis  Daniel.' 

Counsels  for  the  education  of  young  Daniel. 

Geneva,  \Zth  Fcbruanj,  1560. 

Your  son  has  followed  his  cousin  to  the  town  to  which  you 
ordered  him  to  repair.     You  judge  wisely  that  the  disposition 

'  See  p.  77.     Young  Francis  Daniel  had  quitted  Geneva  to  go,  at  his  father's  re- 
quest, and  study  law  at  the  University  of  Orleans.     In  writing  to  Calvin  to  thank 

12 


90  FRANCIS    DANIEL.  [1560. 

of  the  young  man  requires  the  rein  to  prevent  it  from  being 
carried  away  hither  and  thither  by  its  natural  facility  ;  but  more 
especially  that  he  may  confine  himself  to  one  branch  of  study, 
and  devote  himself  to  a  solid  erudition,  rather  than  ambitiously 
run  over  the  circle  of  the  sciences  in  acquiring  a  smattering  of 
each.  He  has  great  quickness  of  parts,  and  has  been  tolerably 
well  trained.  Let  only  his  excessive  impetuousness,  the  common 
fault  of  his  years,  be  corrected,  he  will  produce  excellent  fruits. 
I  am  very  confident  of  these  future  good  results,  for  he  has  a 
great  deal  of  modesty,  and  a  very  short  period  of  time  has 
already  spontaneously  given  a  certain  maturity  to  his  ideas. 
If  you  desire  him  to  apply  seriously  to  civil  law,  you  will  have 
to  stimulate  him,  for  otherwise  he  has  not  much  taste  for  that 
study.  The  seven  and  twenty  gold  crowns  which  he  received 
from  me  have  been  paid  down  to  me.  I  was  ashamed,  indeed, 
to  accept  them  when  I  reflected  that  I  have  been  so  long  in 
your  debt.  Nor,  in  truth,  had  I  been  a  little  richer  would  I 
have  suffered  a  single  penny  to  have  been  paid  back  to  me. 
But  I  would  have  you  believe  that  I  am  wholly  at  your  service, 
and  the  little  that  I  possess  I  shall  always  hold  at  the  disposal 
of  you  and  yours.  Only  you  will  allow  me  to  send  what  I  have 
long  purposed  to  do,  a  gold  piece  to  each  of  your  daughters,  as 
a  kind  of  New  Year's  gift,  that  they,  at  least,  may  have  some 
slight  token  of  my  gratitude. 

Farewell,  most  worthy  sir.     May  the  Lord  protect,  govern, 
alad  support  you  and  your  family. — Yours, 

Charles  Passelius. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Autog. — Library  of  Berne,  Coll.  Bongars.  Vol.  141.  jd.  49.] 

him,  the  latter  recalled  to  him  the  friendship  which  they  had  contracted  at  school: — 
"I  beg  you  to  be  thoroughly  persuaded  of  this  that  there  is  nobody  Tpho  keeps  up 
more  faithfully  and  religiously  than  I  do  a  friendship  contracted  in  early  youth. 
Farewell,  most  excellent  friend.     My  mother  and  my  wife  salute  you  most  cordially." 


1560.]  JOHN   STURM.  91 

DLV. — To  John  Sturm.' 

Severe  judgment  respecting  the  conspiracy  of  Amboiao. 

Geneva,  23rf  March,  1560. 

Though  during  the  last  six  weeks  matters  of  great  import- 
ance have  been  going  forward,  yet  such  contradictory  and  per- 
plexed accounts  respecting  them  have  prevailed,  that  having 
nothing  sure  to  communicate  to  you,  my  uncertainty  has  stayed 
my  hand;  and  now  I  feel  ashamed  to  send  you  a  letter  so  bar- 
ren of  facts,  because  in  such  an  infinite  variety  of  subjects  I 
am  at  a  loss  where  to  begin  and  where  to  end.  When  I  was  at 
first  consulted  by  those  who  were  the  prime  instigators  in  this 
business,  I  frankly  replied  that  their  whole  manner  of  proceeding 
displeased  me,  but  that  the  transaction  itself  was  what  incurred 
my  greatest  disapprobation,  because  what  they  had  foolishly 
resolved  they  next  set  about  childishly.  At  present,  I  regret 
their  sluggishness,  because  I  am  well  informed  that  what  they 
had  determined  to  put  in  execution  before  the  15th  of  March 
had  not  been  attempted  by  them  till  five  days  after  that  period. 
Just  now  we  are  in  momentary  expectation  of  what  will  be  the 
upshot  of  their  boastful  attempts.'*     You  judge  rightly  in  thinking 

*  The  death  of  Henry  II.,  and  the  accession  of  Francis  II.,  the  husband  of  Mary 
Stuart,  and  governed  by  the  Guises,  gave  rise  to  grave  changes  in  the  attitude  of  the 
Reformers.  After  having  undergone  without  a  murmur  for  twenty-five  years  the 
most  iniquitous  persecutions,  they  began  to  aslt  if  the  passive  submission  which  Cal- 
vin had  always  counselled  was  a  duty  for  them  in  the  new  circumstances  in  which  they 
were  placed.  The  execution  of  Anne  Dubourg,  {23d  December,  1559,)  put  the  finish- 
ing stroke  to  their  exasperation.  They  consulted,  says  the  historian  La  Planche,  the 
opinions  of  Jurisconsults,  to  know  if  resistance  to  the  tyranny  of  the  princes  of  Lor- 
raine was  not  legitimate.  They  formed  plans  of  defence,  to  which  they  associated  the 
King  of  Navarre,,  and  the  Prince  de  Cond6.  These  terminated  in  the  conspiracy  of 
Amboise,  the  rash  undertaking  of  a  party  maddened  by  persecutions,  and  of  which 
the  failure  necessarily  aggravated  still  more  the  situation  of  the  French  Protestants. 
Consulted  at  Geneva  respecting  the  suitableness  of  a  rising  in  arms,  Calvin  blamed  in 
the  most  energetic  terms  all  recourse  to  force.     But  his  words  were  not  listened  to. 

'  The  object  of  the  conspirators  was  to  seize  on  the  person  of  the  King,  and  to  sub- 
stitute in  stead  of  the  guardianship  of  the  Guises  the  government  of  the  princes  of 
Bourbon  favourable  to  the  Reform.  Undertaken  on  the  20th  of  March,  the  attempt 
failed,  in  consequence  of  the  vigilance  of  the  princes  of  Lorraine.  In  writing  to 
Sturm,  Calvin  was  yet  ignorant  of  the  death  of  La  Renaudie,  and  the  sad  lot  of  the 
principal  conspirators. 


92  JOHN    GELLIN.  [1560. 

that  every  thing  turns  upon  their  gaining  over  the  King  of  Navarre 
to  their  enterprise.  I  have  a  lurking  suspicion,  however,  that  of 
the  chiefs  who  give  themselves  airs  of  superior  address,  there  are 
some  who  are  but  too  much  inclined  to  ingratiate  themselves  into 
his  favour.  Before  two  or  three  days  something  will  certainly 
transpire.  Meanwhile,  in  certain  towns  of  the  provinces  godly 
men  have  been  emboldened  to  undertake  more  than  I  could  have 
wished.'  I  had  advised  them  not  to  make  a  public  demonstra- 
tion before  the  royal  progress  of  the  court ;  now  their  precipi- 
tancy will  engender  greater  disturbances.  The  convulsions  of 
Europe  which  I  had  in  mind  long  anticipated  are  at  last  placed, 
as  it  were,  before  my  eyes.  Yet  I  am  not  for  all  that  so  per- 
plexed as  not  to  be  prepared  to  undertake  a  journey  should 
necessity  require  it.  You  will  excuse  the  brevity  and  sterility 
of  this  letter.  Should  any  thing  worth  knowing  take  place,  I 
shall  spare  no  expense  to  make  you  acquainted  with  it,  that  we 
may  further  what  has  been  successfully  commenced,  and  pro- 
vide against  or  deplore  what  shall  have  turned  out  unfortunately. 
I  shall  inform  you  in  good  time  of  all  fitting  remedies  to  be  ap- 
plied, and  if  need  be  fly  to  your  assistance. 
Farewell,  most  accomplished  and  respected  sir. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

{Lat.  Copy. — Arch,  of  Berne.     Vol.  VI.,  p.  854.] 


DLVI.— To  John  Gellin.^ 

He  exhorta  him  to  leave  France  in  order  to  retire  to  Geneva. 

Geneva,  Easter  day,  1560. 

It  is  not  indolence,  my  most  excellent  brother,  which  will 
occasion  the  brevity  of  my  letter,  but  fatigue  and  lassitude. 
Already  half  my  former  vigour,  partly  from  diseases,  partly 
from  labours,  has  become  impaired ;  nor  on  account  of  the  num- 
berless occupations  that  almost  overwhelm  me,  is  it  in  my  power 

'  See  the  letter  to  the  Church  of  Valence,  I.')  April,  1560,  p,  95. 
*  To  Master  John  Gellin  at  Tolose. 


1560.]  JOIIJS    GELLIN.  93 

to  go  beyond  the  circuit  of  the  city  for  recreation  or  even  to 
enjoy  a  brief  breathing  time.  If  now  I  do  not  simply  beg  you 
to  excuse  my  silence,  it  is  because  as  often  as  I  found  a  safe 
opportunity  of  sending  you  a  letter,  I  had  no  leisure  to  write 
it,  and  I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  having  letters  ready  written 
lying  by  me,  waiting  for  the  chance  of  a  messenger  to  convey 
them.  In  a  former  letter  you  asked  me  if  there  might  be  any 
room  for  your  services  among  us,  and  if  so,  you  hinted  that  joxi 
would  speedily  hasten  hither  and  with  prompt  zeal  willingly 
discharge  whatever  functions  should  be  assigned  you.  I  by  no 
means  disapprove  of  your  intention,  but  I  would  not  have  you 
ignorant  of  our  manner  of  proceeding  in  never  calling  in  any 
one  from  foreign  parts,  when  we  have  fitting  persons  at  hand. 
But  I  would  spare  no  good  ofiices  of  mine  to  promote  your 
interest,  if  after  you  proceeded  hither,  your  health  permitted  you 
to  prolong  your  stay  among  us ;  and  in  one  word  that  you  may 
see  that  I  am  pledging  myself  heartily,  I  am  induced  to  do  this, 
not  only  from  considerations  of  your  being  a  countryman,  but 
also  from  the  ties  of  affinity.  Moreover,  I  think  I  have  4is- 
covered  in  you  marks  of  piety  and  disinterested  affection,  con- 
joined with  modesty,  to  say  nothing  of  your  erudition,  which, 
nevertheless,  also  deservedly  conciliates  good  will  towards  you. 
Again,  when  you  consult  me,  now  that  your  father  is  dead,  about 
the  line  of  conduct  which  I  think  you  ought  to  hold,  the  impor- 
tunate entreaties  of  your  relations  are  calling  you  back  to  your 
native  place ;  on  the  other  hand  your  widowed  mother  is  urging 
your  return,  who  both  by  her  natural  claims  and  her  tears  ap- 
peals to  your  filial  piety.  It  is  cruel  to  refuse  her,  especially  as 
she  is  burdened  with  other  children  and  distracted  by  a  variety 
of  cares,  as  is  usually  the  lot  of  widows.  Of  her  purpose  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  She  claims  you  to  aid  her  in  the  management 
of  her  household — that  the  sorrow  she  has  conceived  from  the 
death  of  your  father,  may  by  your  presence  be  alleviated ;  in  a 
word  that  she  may  transfer  to  you  the  direction  of  all  her 
domestic  affairs,  and  that  you  may  contribute,  in  part  at  least, 
by  your  forensic  gains  to  the  support  of  the  family.  I  am  not 
indeed  so  barbarous  as  peremptorily  to  exhort  yon  to  forsake  her. 
But  what  God  has  suggested  to  your  mind,  take  care  you  weigh 


94  JOHN   GELLIN.  [1560. 

more  diligently,  lest  you  entangle  yourself  in  snares  of  such  a 
kind  as  it  may  not  be  easy  to  extricate  yourself  from  afterwards. 
And  grant  that  you  escape,  yet  this  will  neither  be  very  speedily, 
nor  without  running  imminent  risk,  perhaps  not  without  falling 
away  altogether  from  religion. 

No  sooner  shall  you  have  entered  your  native  city  than  ac- 
cording to  the  wonted  rudeness  of  our  nation,  the  eyes  of  all 
will  be  fixed  on  you  to  see  whether  you  comply  with  the  public 
usages,  whether  you  will  have  masses  said  for  your  deceased 
father,  whether  you  be  sufficiently  superstitious.  If  they  re- 
mark in  you  any  deviation  from  common  custom,  then  you  are 
the  object  of  universal  obloquy.  Should  the  obligations  of  your 
duty  drag  you  thither,  better  would  it  be  to  shut  your  eyes,  than 
from  fear  of  dangers  to  Avithdraw  yourself  from  the  commands 
of  God.  For  what  is  this  but  rashly  to  expose  yourself  to  tempt 
God.  Beware,  then,  lest  he,  withdrawing  his  helping  Hand, 
should  punish  your  temerity.  If  in  so  embarrassing  a  matter 
you  are  held  in  too  great  suspense,  and  as  it  is  difficult  to  com- 
prise in  a  letter  addressed  to  you  where  you  are  now  resident  all 
the  considerations  which  would  require  to  be  examined  on  both 
sides,  I  think  you  would  do  well  to  come  here  forthwith,  and 
before  your  views  suffer  any  change — just  as  you  have  already 
signified  that  you  wished  to  do.  Then  by  w^eighing  all  the 
reasons  for  and  against  any  decision,  we'  may  be  able  by  the 
guidance  of  God  to  resolve  upon  something. 

Farewell,  my  most  excellent  and  well  beloved  brother.  May 
the  Lord  govern  you  by  his  Spirit  and  accompany  you  with 
every  blessing. — Yours, 

Charles  Passelius. 

Salute  in  my  name  all  the  godly  who  are  in  your  parts. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy,  102.] 


1560,]  THE   CHURCH   OF    VALENCE.  95 


DLVII.— To  THE  Church  of  Valence.' 

Christian  exhortations — The  sending  of  a  pastor. 

Geneva,  16^7f  April,  1560. 

The  love  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  be  always  with  you,  by  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Beloved  Seigneurs  and  Brethren: — Since  it  has  pleased 
God  that  matters  have  come  to  such  a  crisis  among  you,  you 
must  prepare  yourselves  to  maintain  great  combats,  as  there  is 
no  doubt  but  ere  long  Satan  will  stir  them  up  against  you,  and 
he  is  already  setting  his  agents  to  work  to  plot  the  destruction 
of  the  whole  edifice  of  God.  But  whatever  be  the  result,  you 
have  to  fortify  yourselves,  not  to  resist  the  rage  of  the  enemy 
by  the  aid  of  the  fleshly  arm,  but  to  maintain  with  constancy 
the  truth  of  the  gospel  in  which  consists  our  salvation,  and  the 
service  and  honour  of  God,  which  we  are  bound  to  honour  more 
than  our  own  bodies  and  souls.  We  cannot  do  better  than  pray 
with  you  that  our  heavenly  Father  would  keep  you  under  his 
protection.     For  indeed  when  you  shall  be  assailed  it  will  not 

'  The  seat  of  a  celebrated  university,  and  of  a  bishopric  administered  by  a  tolerant 
prelate,  John  de  Monluc,  Valence  could  early  boast  of  many  persons  professing  the 
Reformed  faith  who  assembled  in  secret  in  the  suburbs  of  the  town.  Founded  in 
1559  by  an  old  advocate  of  Metz,  Peter  Brusle,  confirmed  by  the  preaching  of  Oilles 
Solas,  and  of  an  Angevin  nobleman  named  Lancelot,  the  Church  of  Valence  had  a 
turbulent  and  stormy  origin. — "  As  to  Dauphiny,  says  Beza,  there  were  terrible  con- 
vulsions which  began  first  at  Valence.  For  some  petulant  spirits  who  were  not 
satisfied  with  a  moderate  and  peaceable  state  of  things,  wished  to  make  a  public  de- 
monstration ;  others  were  averse  to  it.  Thus  began  their  divisions  and  the  source 
whence  sprung  much  mischief  afterwards." — The  most  ardent  party,  composed  of  noble- 
men and  students  in  1660,  in  spite  of  the  consistory  seized  upon  the  church  of  the 
Cordeliers,  installed  their  ministers  in  it,  and  kept  an  armed  watch  around  the  meet- 
ings. These  imprudent  acts,  imitated  at  Romans,  at  Montelimart,  and  severely 
blamed  at  Geneva,  produced  sad  reprisals.  Maugiron,  lieutenant  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise,  having  entered  the  town  by  surprise  caused  two  of  the  ministers  to  be  be- 
headed, and  three  of  the  principal  citizens  to  bo  hanged  as  fomentcrs  of  sedition. 
This  was  the  origin  of  the  long  troubles  which  agitated  the  whole  country,  and  which 
preceded  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  wars  in  Dauphiny.  Ifiit.  EccL,  vol.  i.  p.  219, 
342,  and  the  following:  D'Aubigne,  Hist.  Univ.  L.  ii.,  and  de  Thou,  L.  xxv. 


96  THE    CHURCH    OF   MONTELIMART.  [1560. 

be  long  before  the  blows  will  fall  upon  us.  But  he  who  holds 
our  life  and  death  in  his  hand  will  discomfit  all  the  efforts  of 
those  who  hate  us,  only  because  we  are  his  followers.  This  re- 
source should  suffice  to  prevent  you  from  ever  being  thrown  into 
consternation.  In  the  mean  time  in  compliance  with  your  request, 
we  have  selected  the  brother  who  is  now  on  his  way  to  you.' 
He  has  heretofore  faithfully  laboured  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 
I  trust  he  will  continue  to  do  so  in  the  time  to  come,  and  that 
God  will  reap  such  fruits  from  his  labours  that  his  name  shall 
be  glorified  by  them,  and  all  of  us  have  reason  to  rejoice. 

Whereupon  we  pray  God  to  have  you  in  his  holy  keeping,  to 
animate  you  with  invincible  constancy,  and  increase  in  you  the 
gifts  of  his  Holy  Spirit. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DLVIII. — To  THE  Church  of  Montelimart.^ 

Eulogy  of  the  Minister  Francis  de  St.  Paul — Prudent  counsels. 

Geneva,  April,  1560. 

Beloved  seigneurs  and  brethren,  as  we  bless  God  for  the  good 
pleasure  he  has  bestowed  on  you  to  assemble  yourselves  in  his 

'  The  minister  Lancelot,  originally  from  Anjou. 

'  Without  date.  April,  1560.  At  the  period  in  which,  according  to  the  expression 
of  Beza,  the  churches  were  multiplied  with  astonishing  ardour  in  the  towns  and  vil- 
lages of  Dauphiny,  "those  of  Montelimart  also,  succoured  by  the  seneschal  of  the 
country  of  Valentinois,  named  Bourjac,  and  directed  by  a  cordelier,  named  Frere  Tem- 
peste,  who  preached  the  truth  with  sufficient  boldness  in  his  Monk's  frock,  established 
their  church  by  the  ministry  of  Francis  de  St.  Paul,  also  sent  to  them  by  Geneva." 
Hist.  Eccl.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  219  and  343.  It  is  the  minister  whom  Calvin  mentions  in  his 
letter  to  the  brethren  of  Montelimart.  Renowned  for  his  learning  and  eloquence, 
which  rendered  him  worthy  of  taking  a  part  in  the  conferences  of  Poissy,  Frfincis  de 
St.  Paul  had  been  pastor  of  the  French  Church  at  Berne,  and  a  preacher  of  the  Re- 
formation in  Saintonge  and  Poitou.  The  troubles  which  broke  out  in  Dauphiny,  in 
1560,  did  not  permit  him  to  make  a  long  stay  at  Montelimart,  which  he  was  obliged 
to  quit  the  following  year,  in  order  to  comply  with  the  call  of  the  Church  of  Dieppe. 
The  gospel  continued  not  the  less  to  make  progress  in  this  country,  as  is  proved  by  a 
letter  of  the  synod  of  Valence  to  the  society  of  Geneva  of  the  8th  June,  1562  : — 
"  As  the  zeal  for  the  service  of  God  which  we  perceive  in  the  people  of  ttiis  country 
gives  us  infinite  delight,  so  we  cannot  think  of  the  want  we  have  of  pastors,  nor 


1560.]  THE    CHURCH    OF    MONTELIMART.  97 

name,  to  call  upon  him,  and  be  instructed  and  confirmed  in  the 
doctrine  of  salvation,  so  we  have  not  wished  to  be  awanting 
on  our  part  to  aid  you  in  that  purpose,  as  far  as  our  means  per- 
mit us.  Now  as  we  have  been  informed  that  it  was  necessary 
to  send  you  a  man  of  competent  learning  and  prudence,  we 
have  requested  the  bearer  of  the  present  letter  to  take  upon  him 
this  office,  because  we  had  no  one  at  our  disposal  who,  in  our 
judgment,  is  better  calculated  to  give  you  satisfaction,  which 
however  we  had  rather  that  you  should  know  from  experience, 
than  we  should  enter  into  longer  details  on  that  subject.  And 
the  same  motives  induced  us  also  to  press  this  service  more 
urgently  upon  him ;  for,  in  truth,  he  had  some  reasons  which 
might  have  excused  him  had  he  declined  it ;  but  in  fine  he  con- 
sented to  devote  his  labours  to  you  on  the  conditions  which  we 
found  and  judged  to  be  equitable,  among  which  the  principal  is, 
that  he  may  be  at  liberty  to  return  to  another  church  towards 
which  he  has  contracted  obligations,  provided  it  please  God  of 
his  infinite  goodness  to  remedy  the  dispersion  which  has  taken 
place  in  it.^  For  though  according  to  men  he  might  quit  those 
who  had  conducted  themselves  in  a  dastardly  manner  in  the 
hour  of  trial,  yet  according  to  the  duty  of  a  true  and  faithful 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  withdrew  from  them  only  for  a  time, 
ofi'ering  to  return  when  -the  flock  should  be  reassembled.  Not 
to  give  occasion  then  to  those  who  are  but  too  weak,  to  become 
lukewarm,  or  altogether  alienated  from  the  truth,  we  have  not 
dared  to  insist  farther  than  that  he  should  go  and  minister  to  you 
as  long  as  it  might  be  in  his  power,  without  doing  any  wrong  to 
those  who  are  still  counting  on  his  services.  Thus  we  beg  you  not 
to  take  it  amiss  if  you  have  only,  as  it  were,  a  loan  of  him,  and  let 
him  not  be  accused  of  inconstancy  should  he  be  forced  to  per- 
form the  promise  which  he  has  made  elsewhere.     This  neces- 

hear  the  lamentations  of  the  poor  people  without  great  sadness.  For  in  this  province, 
where  a  thousand  ministers  would  not  suffice,  there  are  scarcely  forty." — MSS.  of  Ge- 
neva, Portfolio  I.  See  also  (vol.  196)  two  letters  of  the  Church  of  Monteliinart  to 
Calvin,  of  the  18th  July  1561,  and  of  the  29th  March,  1562. 

'  Is  it  the  church  of  Poitiers  ?  We  read  in  the  registers  of  the  society,  March, 
1559  : — "  About  that  time  Mr.  Francis  de  St.  Paul  was  chosen  to  go  and  preach  the 
gospel  at  Poitiers,  instead  of  M.  de  Brueil."  But  Beza  does  not  mention  any  disper- 
sion in  the  history  of  this  church  in  1560. 

13 


98  THE    CHURCH    OF    MONTELIMART.  [1560. 

sity  falling  out,  however,  we  shall  not  fail  to  provide  for  you  as 
well  as  God  shall  permit  us.  And  we  hope  that  he  will  not 
fail  you  withal  in  your  need,  but  that  he  will  guide  you  more- 
over by  his  Spirit  to  choose  such  a  man  as  shall  be  useful  to 
you.  There  is  another  circumstance  which  I  must  mention ;  it 
is  that  the  person  who  is  now  on  his  way  to  you  cannot  remain 
long  absent  from  his  wife,  because  for  the  service  of  the  church 
he  has  already  left  her  for  a  long  time  in  bad  health,  and  should 
he  continue  to  do  so,  he  might  be  esteemed  not  very  humane. 
Wherefore,  should  it  please  God  that  he  take  up  his  residence 
with  you,  it  will  be  necessary  for  him  to  send  for  his  wife  and  his 
household  furniture  that  he  may  be  at  greater  liberty  to  acquit 
himself  of  his  functions.  Meanwhile  we  beg  you  affectionately 
to  take  into  consideration  their  support,  as  each  of  you  may 
easily  conceive  what  must  be  the  regret  of  a  Christian  man  in 
quitting  his  family  and  leaving  it  in  penury  and  want.  For  we 
can  testify  that  he  has  never  heaped  up  the  goods  of  this  world, 
so  that  should  they  not  be  succoured  by  you,  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren would  be  reduced  to  suffer  hunger  and  thirst  during  his 
absence.  But  as  we  are  convinced  that  you  will  be  disposed  of 
your  own  accord  to  act  with  perfect  humanity  in  this  respect,  it 
is  sufficient  for  us  to  have  reminded  you.  What  is  of  most  im- 
portance is,  that  you  welcome  him  as  being  addressed  to  you  by 
Jesus  Christ  to  bring  to  you  the  uncorrupted  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel, which  is  that  inestimable  treasure  in  which  lies  all  the  per- 
fection of  felicity.  For,  in  truth,  this  is  also  what  he  aims  at, 
and  above  all  desires  to  witness  the  fruits  of  his  labour,  when 
he  shall  faithfully  bestow  his  pains  on  the  work  of  your  salva- 
tion. Now,  if  you  show  such  reverence  as  you  ought  for  the 
word  of  God,  which  he  will  announce  to  you,  we  trust  that  you 
will  not  fail  in  any  thing  else. 

To  conclude,  inasmuch  as  the  brother  you  have  sent  to  us 
gives  us  to  understand  that  you  are  deliberating  about  esta- 
blishing ere  long  the  public  preaching  of  the  word  among  you, 
we  entreat  you  to  abstain  from  that  purpose,  and  not  to  think 
of  it  till  God  give  you  a  better  opportunity.  It  is  true,  that 
this  advice  is  dictated  by  a  desire  to  spare  you.  But  at  the 
same  time  we  do  not  see  that  you  are  called  upon  to  hazard 


1.560.]  THE    BISHOP    OF    LONDON.  99 

SO  premature  a  step.'  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  us  that 
it  is  quite  sufficient  that  you  should  endeavour  and  put  forth 
all  your  efforts  to  increase  the  flock,  collect  the  poor  scattered 
sheep,  and  in  the  meantime  refrain  from  all  public  demonstra- 
tions, by  making  no  innovations  respecting  the  temples,  pro- 
vided only  you  keep  yourselves  separated  from  the  pollutions 
that  are  committed  in  them.  When  you  shall  hold  your  assem- 
blies peaceably  in  private  dwellings,  at  least  the  rage  of  your 
enemies  Avill  not  be  so  speedily  inflamed,  and  you  will  render  to 
God  what  he  requires  of  you;  namely,  to  glorify  his  name  in 
purity  and  preserve  yourselves  undefiled  from  all  superstitions 
until  it  please  him  to  open  for  you  a  wider  door.  Whereupon 
we  supplicate  him,  beloved  seigneurs  and  brethren,  to  govern 
you  by  his  Spirit  with  such  prudence,  virtue,  and  simplicity  as 
he  shall  see  fit,  and  in  the  meantime  to  have  you  in  his  holy 
keeping,  and  fortify  you  with  such  perseverance  that  at  the  last 
we  may  be  gathered  together  into  his  eternal  rest. 

[Fr.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLIX. — To  THE  Bishop  of  London. ^ 

Recommendation  of  the  French  Church  of  London — Eulogium  of  Des  Gallars — Wish 
for  a  complete  Reform  of  the  Anglican  Church. 

Geneva,  May,  1560. 

Though  you  do  not  expect  me  to  thank  you  for  an  office  of 
piety  performed  by  you  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  yet  the  case  is 

'  The  prudent  counsels  of  the  Reformer  were  unfortunately  not  listened  to.  The 
minister  Francis  de  St.  Paul  was  seditiously  installed  in  the  church  of  the  Cordeliers, 
and  the  Reformers  of  Montelimart,  like  those  of  Valence  and  Romans,  kept  an  armed 
watch  around  their  pastor.  "  If  the  wisdom  of  the  better  advised,  says  Beza,  had 
been  able  to  overcome  the  impatience  of  some,  there  is  much  likelihood  that  by  far 
the  greater  part  of  the  country  would  have  come  over  to  the  sound  doctrine  of  their 
own  accord,  and  their  aflairs  would  have  taken  a  much  more  favourable  turn." 

"  Without  date— May  1560.  We  get  the  date  of  this  letter  from  that  of  the  letter 
from  the  French  Church  in  London  to  Calvin  asking  for  a  pastor,  in  which  they 
say:  "What  a  glory  would  be  added,  not  only  to  the  foreign  churches,  but  also 
to  the  Anglican,  if  Viret  or  Th.  Beza  or  Nicholas  des  Gallars  should  join  himself 
to  us  !"  March,  2SLh  1560,  Dupuy,  vol.  102.  The  Bishup  of  London  had  accompanied 
this  request  with  the  most  urgent  recommendations.     A  lefugee  on  the  continent  during 


100  THE   BISHOP    OF   LONDON.  [1560. 

different  with  regard  to  the  protection  which  you  have  deigned 
to  afford  those  of  our  countrymen  who  inhabit  the  principal 
city  of  your  diocese.  By  your  cares,  they  have  had  permission, 
through  the  indulgence  of  the  queen,  not  only  to  invoke  God  in 
purity,  but  also  to  send  over  to  us  a  demand  for  a  faithful 
pastor ;  if  then  for  these  acts  of  kindness,  I  did  not  profess  my- 
self bound  to  you,  I  should  be  deservedly  chargeable  with  folly 
and  a  want  of  common  courtesy.  And  since  you  have  not 
hesitated  of  your  own  free  impulse  to  ask  and  entreat  me  to  see 
that  a  fitting  pastor  should  be  selected  for  my  countrymen,  I 
have  no  need  to  recommend  to  your  fidelity  and  protection  the 
persons  for  whose  salvation  you  are  so  solicitous.  And  as- 
suredly as,  in  assisting  them  so  liberally  up  to  this  moment,  you 
have  given  a  rare  and  singular  proof  of  your  pious  zeal,  so  now 
you  will  of  your  constancy  in  continuing  your  good  offices  to  the 
end.  In  what  concerns  ourselves,  both  because  the  situation 
seemed  to  require  a  man  furnished  with  eminent  gifts,  and 
because  the  foreigners  among  you  particularly  desired  that  one 
of  our  society  should  be  accorded  to  them,  we  have  preferred  to 
despoil  ourselves  rather  than  not  comply  with  so  holy  a  desire. 
For  that  reason  we  have  granted  to  their  request  our  brother 
Nicholas  des  Gallars  one  of  the  three  whom  they  themselves 
named  in  the  beginning.'  Now  though  it  was  painful  for  him 
to  be  torn  away  from  us  whom  he  knew  to  entertain  no  ordinary 
degree  of  affection  for  him,  and  though  he  quitted  with  reluc- 


Ihe  reign  of  tbe  intolerant  Mary,  Edmond  Grindal  had  learned  how  to  appreciate 
the  Reformers  of  Swisserland  and  professed  for  Calvin  the  most  affectionate  admiration. 
He  wrote  to  him  in  1563  :  "  Our  church  and  nation  are  greatly  indebted  to  you,  illustrious 
brother,  ...  it  is  then  with  the  deepest  sorrow  we  have  learned  the  deplorable  state 
of  your  health.  Most  assuredly  it  is  the  excess  of  your  labours  that  has  occasioned 
this  illness.  Renounce  then  these  prolonged  vigils,  otherwise  the  evil  will  increase, 
and  you  will  no  longer  be  of  such  utility  to  the  church.  Recall  to  your  recollection 
Gregory  of  Nazianzen,  who,  as  he  advanced  in  age  being  unwilling  to  relax  from  the 
austerity  of  his  youth,  was  forced  almost  always  to  keep  his  bed,  and  thereby  became 
less  useful.  Since  you  and  Bullinger  remain  almost  alone  among  the  pillars  of  the 
bouse  of  God,  we  desire  to  enjoy  you,  if  the  Lord  shall  think  fit,  as  long  as  possible." 
(^Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  113.) 

"Nicholas  des  Gallars  was  elected  (the  26th  April,  1560)  minister  of  the  French 
Church  of  London.  On  the  3d  of  May  he  took  leave  of  the  Seigneurs  of  Geneva. 
"The  Lord,"  say  the  Registers  of  Geneva,  "has  seen  fit  to  make  use  of  him  for  his 
own  glory  and  our  joy  and  consolation." 


1560.]  THE    BISHOP    or    LONDON.  101 

tance  a  station  in  "wluch  he  had  long  rendered  services  not  less 
productive  than  faithfully  performed,  yet  vanquished  by  our 
entreaties  he  has  undertaken  this  office,  because  he  hoped  that 
he  should  thus  contribute  in  no  small  degree  to  the  spread  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

Certainly  nothing  but  necessity  could  have  wrung  from  us  our 
consent  to  be  separated  from  him,  but  we  feared  that  it  was  not 
possible  otherwise  than  by  his  arrival  among  you  to  provide  for 
the  wants  of  a  rising,  and  as  yet  but  imperfectly  organized 
church.  For  this  place  will  incur  no  slight  loss  by  his  departure, 
where  he  was  held  in  high  esteem,  and  where  he  bore  himself  in 
a  manner  worthy  of  a  servant  of  Christ.  As  far  as  my  personal 
,  feelings  are  concerned,  the  greatest  intimacy  and  affection 
having  subsisted  between  us,  I  did  not  without  the  most  poignant 
sorrow  give  ray  consent  to  this  disruption  of  our  familiar  inter- 
course. But  everything  was  to  be  endured  rather  than  refuse 
the  aid  so  anxiously  implored  by  our  destitute  and  distressed 
brethren. 

Wherefore  I  feel  the  greater  solicitude,  that  he  should  at  least 
find  among  you  a  welcome  station  to  alleviate  and  solace  his 
sorrow  at  quitting  his  country.  When  a  closer  connection, 
which  your  natural  courtesy  makes  me  confidently  expect,  shall 
have  revealed  to  you  his  real  character,  you  will  be  sufficiently 
convinced,  Reverend  Sir,  without  any  foreign  recommendation, 
how  worthy  he  is  of  your  affection.  In  the  mean  time  if  I  hold 
any  place  in  your  esteem,  I  entreat  you  again  and  again  to 
honour  with  your  favour  and  kindness  a  man  whom  yoii  see  to 
be  so  cherished  by  me. 

It  is  a  matter  of  deep  regret  that  the  churches  of  your  whole 
kingdom  have  not  yet  been  organized  as  all  good  men  could 
wish,  and  as  in  the  beginning  they  had  hoped.'  But  to  over- 
come all  difficulties  there  is  need  of  unflagging  efforts.  Then 
indeed  it  is  expedient  and  even  absolutely  necessary  that  the 
queen  should  discriminate,  and  you  in  your  turn  should  lay 
aside,  nay,  cast  from  you  entirely  whatever  savours  of  earthly 

'  This  regret  was  shared  in  by  Grindal  himself.  In  his  letter  to  Calvin  of  the  ISth 
March,  1560,  wo  read  :  "  I  conimend  to  your  prayers,  and  those  of  the  other  brethren, 
the  state  uf  our  churches,  not  yet  settled  sufficiently  according  to  our  mind." 


102  CHAKLES    UTENIIOVEN.  [1560. 

domination,  in  order  that  for  the  exercise  of  a  spiritual  office 
you  may  have  a  legitimate  authority  and  such  as  shall  be  bestowed 
on  you  by  God.  This  indeed  will  be  her  supremacy  and  pre- 
eminence; then  she  will  hold  the  highest  rank  of  dignity  under 
Christ  our  head,  if  she  stretch  forth  a  helping  hand  to  legitimate 
pastors,  for  the  execution  of  those  functions  that  have  been  en- 
joined us.  But  as  neither  your  wisdom  stands  in  need  of 
counsel,  nor  your  magnanimity  of  incitements,  I  shall  only  have 
recourse  to  prayers,  and  supplicate  God,  my  most  excellent  and 
honoured  sir,  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  sustain  you  by  his 
power,  shield  you  with  his  protection  and  bless  all  your  holy 
labours. 

All  my  colleagues  most  respectfully  salute  your  reverence. 
[Lat.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLX. — To  Charles  Utenhoven.' 

Tokens  of  lively  interest  for  the  Frencli  Church  of  London — Perils  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  3Iay,  1560. 
I  trust  that  the  French  Church  in  your  parts,  for  which  you 
had  so  anxiously  solicited  us,  has  been  well  provided  for.  To 
us,  indeed,  it  was  a  severe  trial  to  be  deprived  of  Nicholas  des 
Gallars,  who  has  hitherto  proved  himself  a  faithful  colleague 
and  fellow-worker  with  us,  but  since  you  are  of  opinion  that 
among  you  he  will  reap  a  more  abundant  harvest  of  his  labours, 
we  dared  not  let  pass  this  opportunity.  It  is  to  me  a  source  of 
great  joy  that  liberty  has  been  restored  to  you.  The  protec- 
tion of  the  Bishop,. moreover,  will  be  of  no  small  service  to  you 
in  all  your  affairs,  for  the  man  who  held  that  dignity  in  the  time 
of  King  Edward,  being  too  much  addicted  to  empty  pomps,  was 
not  sufficiently  propitious  to  you.  I  have  also  endeavoured  by 
a  letter  to  confirm  his  favourable  dispositions  towards  you,  and 
such  is  his  natural  kindliness  that  I  have  the  satisfaction  of 

'  Charles  Utenhoven,  sprung  from  a  noble  family  of  the  Low  Countries,  and  one  of 
the  elders  of  the  Church  of  the  French  Protestants  in  London.  While  John  Uten- 
hoven, his  brother,  had  followed  Laski  to  Poland,  he  had  not  quitted  England. 


1560.]  CHARLES  UTENHOVEN.  103 

knowing  that  I  have  not  lost  my  pains.  As  the  Earl  of  Bed- 
ford had  testified  bv  words  that  he  had  the  greatest  inclination 
to  serve  you,  I  have  exhorted  him'  to  continue  to  watch  over 
both  churches,  and  to  show  to  the  foreigners  any  offices  of  kind- 
ness that  might  be  in  his  power.  It  afi'orded  me  pleasure  that 
you  found  an  opportunity  of  making  Lord  Burleigh'^  acquainted 
with  my  apology  respecting  the  pamphlet.  Though  to  confess 
frankly  the  truth,  I  am  not  under  any  great  uneasiness  about 
conciliating  court  favour.  Some  ill-disposed  person  by  a  mali- 
cious whisper  exposed  me  to  obloquy.  The  slander  was  but  too 
eagerly  received.  If  the  truth  is  admitted,  I  esteem  my  cha- 
racter sufficiently  vindicated ;  if  not,  there  are  other  things 
Avhich  as  they  touch  me  more  closely  so  they  give  me  greater 
uneasiness.  For  that  we  still  exist  safe  and  sound  is  a  thing 
incredible  to  all,  since  we  were  condemned  long  ago  by  the 
judgment  of  the  whole  of  France,  Germany,  and  Italy ;  and 
those  who  had  fairly  given  us  up  as  ruined  are  astonished  that 
we  have  not  perished  a  hundred  times.  Add  to  this,  that  if  this 
church  is  still  flourishing,  or  at  least  undisturbed,  all  the  odium 
falls  upon  my  head.  Thus  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  harden  my 
heart  towards  both  parties.  It  is  my  wish,  indeed,  to  be  ser- 
viceable to  others,  but  only  indeed  according  to  the  measure  of 
my  ability.  Meanwhile  I  shall  always  cherish  with  an  undis- 
turbed mind  those  in  whom  I  perceive  the  seeds  of  piety,  and 
even  should  they  not  reciprocate  my  feelings,  I  shall  never  suf- 
fer myself  to  be  alienated  from  them.  It  Avould  be  absurd  to 
prolong  my  letter  any  further,  since  a  common  friend  and  bro- 
ther is  to  be  the  bearer  of  it,  who,  though  he  should  bo  charged 
with  no  commissions  by  me,  will  nevertheless- carry  along  with 
him  the  mind  of  the  writer. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a-l 

'  See  a  second  letter  addressed  to  this  nobleman,  (June,  1560.) 
"  See  the  letter  to  Cecil,  p.  46. 


104  BULLINGER.  [1560. 


DLXI. — To   BULLINGER. 

Renewed  disapprobation  of  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise — Account  of  the  intrigues  of 
Renaudie  at  Geneva — Vain  opposition  of  Calvin. 

Geneva,  Uth  3Iny,  1560. 

Lest  any  contention  should  spring  up  between  us,  venerable 
and  dearest  brother,  I  will  not  touch  on  the  subject  which  I 
perceive  is  so  distasteful  to  you,"  provided  always  that  a  har- 
mony of  views  subsist  between  us  respecting  the  principal  points 
of  doctrine.  In  other  matters,  let  each  of  us  leave  the  judg- 
ment of  the  other  unfettered.  What  I  deemed  right  and  use- 
ful I  have  endeavoured  to  persuade  you  to,  but  since  my  free- 
dom has  given  offence  it  is  better  to  forbear.  One  thing  only  1 
should  wish  you  to  bear  in  mind  ;  it  is  that  I  have  long  ago  de- 
spaired of  those  creatures  who  ape  Luther,  nor  is  much  reliance 
to  be  placed  on  James  Andrd  and  such  like  persons.  But  what 
wrings  my  heart  is  that  brethren  united  to  us  in  the  faith  should 
be  oppressed  by  a  barbarous  tyranny,  nor  yet  find  any  succour  to 
alleviate  their  distress.  For  how  many,  think  you,  are  there  who 
with  silent  prayers  desire  a  helping  hand  to  be  held  out  to  them, 
and  groan  to  find  themselves  deserted  by  us  !  But  I  pass  to  other 
subjects. 

You  have  not  hesitated  to  repel  the  odious  charges  brought 
against  us  of  fomenting  the  insurrectionary  movement  in  France.^ 
You  might  do  so  with  a  safe  conscience.  When  eight  months 
ago  these  designs  began  to  be  agitated,  I  interposed  ray  authority 
to  prevent  them  from  proceeding  further,  secretly  and  quietly 
it  is  true,  because  I  feared  if  any  report  about  the  affair  should 
reach  the  ears  of  the  enemy,  lest  I  should  be  dragging  all  the 
godly  to  a  horrid  butchery.  I  fancied,  however,  that  all  vio- 
lent movements  had  been  quashed  and  even  quieted  down,  till 
an  individual  of  no  personal  merit  came  to  me  from  France  and 

'  Allusion  to  the  reiterated  efforts  of  Calvin  to  bring  about  a  better  intelligence  be- 
tween the  Church  of  Zurich  and  those  of  Germany,  and  thus  provoke  a  concerted 
action  between  the  Swiss  Cantons  and  the  Lutheran  princes  in  favour  of  the  French 
Protestants.     See  vol.  iii.,  p.  410.  2  To  suppress  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise. 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  105 

boasted  that  he  had  been  appointed  the  leader  of  the  enterprise.' 
I  immediately,  however,  put  a  stop  to  his  bragging,  and  pro- 
fessed my  utter  abhorrence  of  his  conspiracy.  The  next  day, 
this  needy  wretch,  who  was  hunting  in  all  directions  for  booty, 
that  he  might  catch  in  his  nets  a  rich  friend,  and  under  pretext 
of  a  public  collection,  scrape  together  a  good  round  sum  of 
money,  told  a  barefaced  lie,  declaring  that  I  did  not  disapprove 
of  the  conspiracy,  but  that  to  avoid  odium  I  declined  to  take  any 
public  part  in  it.  Suddenly  roused  upon  hearing  this,  and  call- 
ing together  my  colleagues,  I  sharply  exposed  his  groundless 
assertions.  More  than  that,  I  demonstrated  that  he  himself  before 
he  left  Paris  had  been  most  distinctly  informed,  how  perfectly 
averse  I  was  to  that  project.  But  though  it  was  everywhere 
known  that  he  was  an  object  of  suspicion  to  me,  yet  as  he  lived 
at  Lausanne  on  account  of  its  vicinity,  and  as  he  had  a  caress- 
ing manner,  and  was  versed  in  the  art  of  cajoling,  he  won  the 
afiection  of  many  among  us,  so  that  in  the  space  of  three  days, 
his  principles  corrupted  this  city  as  if  it  were  by  contagion. 
IMany  men  among  the  nobility,  as  well  as  among  the  lower  classes 
and  the  working  people,  began  to  hold  secret  meetings,  not  so 
peaceably,  however,  but  the  din  of  them  reached  my  ears.  How 
greatly  this  conspu-acy  displeased  me,  I  took  care  to  demonstrate 
both  in  public  and  in  private,  and  without  any  dissimulation. 
"When  I  gained  nothing  by  these  proceedings,  I  complained  that 
our  body  possessed  so  little  authority  that  in  a  matter  so  deeply 
important  our  advice  was  despised.  A  hundred  times  I  declared 
that  this  was  a  new  kind  of  fascination ;  of  the  sorrowful  issue  I 
made  such  predictions  that  many  almost  repented  of  their  folly. 
I  entreat  you  then  that,  with  your  wonted  kindness  and  for  the 
sake  of  our  mutual  friendship,  you  will  go  on  without  any  mis- 
givings in  vindicating  our  character.  The  other  details  you 
may  ask  from  M.  Peter  Martyr,  for  a  headache  prevents  me 
from  spinning  out  my  discourse  any  further.  For  the  same 
reason  I  shall  be  obliged  to  claim  the  indulgence  of  our  ex- 
cellent brother,  M.  Wolf,  for  not  having  written  an  answer  to 
his  letter.     In  my  name  you  will  thank  him  for  the  labour  he 

'  Godfroy  du  Barrj-,  Sieur  de  la  Renaudie. 

14 


106  PETER    MARTYR.  [1560. 

has  undertaken  in  my  favour,  and  you  will  salute  both  him  and 
your  other  fellow-pastors. 

Farewell,  distinguished  sir  and  honoured  brother.  May  the 
Lord  govern,  protect,  and  support  you — and  bless  you  and  your 
whole  family.     Amen. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[  Orig.  autogr. — Arch,  of  Zurich,  Gallicana  Scnpta,  p.  46.] 


DLXII. — To  Peter  Martyr. 

Reverts  to  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise — Troubles  in  France — Dangers  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  Uth  May,  1560. 

You  will  pardon,  most  accomplished  sir,  my  prolonged  silence. 
For  six  whole  months  overcome  by  a  concentrated  sorrow,  I 
have  abstained  from  writing  letters,  unless  perhaps  some  which 
necessity  wrung  from  me.  The  cause  of  this  sorrow  was  the 
inconsiderate  zeal  of  the  men  of  our  party,  who  imagined  they 
could  obtain  by  disorder  the  liberty  which  was  to  be  sought  for 
by  other  measures.  Already  eight  months  ago  they  had  asked 
my  opinion.  I  fancied  they  had  been  brought  to  a  sounder 
mind  by  my  one  answer.  Some  time  afterwards  (too  late, 
however,  for  there  was  now  no  room  for  a  remedy)  I  asked  them 
what,  having  repudiated  my  advice,  they  counted  upon  doing. 
About  sixty  persons  have  left  this  place  notwithstanding  my 
remonstrances.'  I  told  them  plainly  that  they  were  under  the 
influence  of  a  kind  of  fascination. 

They  attempted  to  show  that  they  had  not  taken  up  arms 
rashly,  by  saying  that  a  promise  had  been  made  them  by  one 
of  the  princes,'^  who  by  the  ancient  usage  of  the  kingdom  and 
its  written  laws  claims  as  his  right,  during  the  absence  of  his 
brother,  the  highest  rank  in  the  supreme  council.  For  it  had 
been  agreed  upon  that  he  should  present  to  the  king  the  con- 

'  Among  the  noblemen  who  left  Geneva,  people  remarked  the  Seigneurs  of  Castel- 
naud  and  of  Villomongis,  who  were  destined  to  perish  miserably  on  the  scaffold  at 
Amboise. 

»Tbe  Prince  of  Conde. 


1560.]  PETER  MARTYR.  107 

fession  that  had  been  drawn  up  among  us,  and  that  if  the  parti- 
sans of  Guise  should  offer  any  violence,  or  make  his  action  the 
subject  of  a  criminal  accusation,  as  many  persons  as  possible 
should  be  prepared  to  undertake  his  defence.  But  not  even 
this  plausible  pretext  satisfied  me  at  first,  unless  they  should  be 
perfectly  on  their  guard  not  to  shed  blood,  for  I  declared  it  to 
be  an  inevitable  consequence  that  from  a  single  drop  would  im- 
mediately flow  streams  that  would  inundate  France.  But  the 
affair  undertaken  with  imprudence  was  still  worse  managed ;  and 
certainly  one  worthless  fellow,  who  had  audaciously  thrust  him- 
self into  the  business,  occasioned  the  ruin  of  all  by  his  foolish- 
ness. But  though  nothing  has  fallen  out  which  I  did  not  anti- 
cipate, it  affords  no  consolation  of  a  future  disaster  to  have 
foreseen  it,  or  to  speak  more  correctly,  that  men  predestined  to 
a  manifest  and  distinctly  announced  destruction  should  have 
been  at  last  precipitated  into  ruin  by  a  too  tardy  movement. 
Had  not  the  measure  been  opposed,  our  people  would  have  taken 
forcible  possession  of  the  churches,  as  was  done  in  Dauphiny. 
But  in  their  manner  of  acting  there  was  the  same  thoughtless 
giddiness.  Those  who  listened  to  my  advice  still  hold  out  and 
are  prepared  to  meet  death  courageously.  There  was  not  the 
same  moderate  conduct  everywhere,  for  in  a  celebrated  faubourg 
of  Paris,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  concourse  of  people,  the 
Cardinal  was  hanged  in  efligy,  and  when  by  an  order  of  the 
parliament,  archers  of  the  guard  were  sent  to  put  an  end  to  this 
ignominious  exhibition,  means  were  found  secretly  to  set  fire  to 
the  gibbet  which  was  consumed  along  with  the  effigy.  Procla- 
mations against  the  house  of  Guise  are  hawked  up  and  down, 
and  daily  published  in  the  principal  cities.  These  arc  the  be- 
ginnings of  sorrows,  as  far  as  the  French  are  concerned,  but 
they  also  for  the  most  part  bode  no  good  to  us.  Nevertheless 
■we  await  with  calm  what  the  Lord  shall  determine.  Perils  are 
staring  us  in  the  face,  when  powerful  bodies  of  troops  are  every- 
where being  armed,  but  because  we  know  that  we  are  under  the 
Lord's  protection  we  keep  watch  and  abstain  from  tumult. 

The  young  men  whom  you  recommended  to  me  will  feel  how 
highly  both  I  and  my  fellow-pastors  value  your  recommenda- 
tion.    They  have  found,  I  hope,  a  very  suitable  lodging. 


108  STURM    AND   HOTMAN.  [1560. 

Farewell,  my  ever  honoured  brother.  May  the  Lord  always 
stand  by  you,  govern,  protect,  and  bless  you  along  with  your 
wife,  whom  as  well  as  our  brethren,  M.  Gualter  and  the  others, 
I  most  cordially  salute. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Farts,  Eecueil,  Hist.  t.  xix.  p.  29.] 


DLXIIL — To  Sturm  and  Hotman.' 

Treacherous  policy  of  the  Guises — New  appeal  addressed  to  the  German  Princes — 
Petition  to  the  king. 

Geneva,  ith  June,  1560. 

Although  for  a  season  we  have  been  almost  paralyzed  by 
sorrow,  nevertheless  the  unhappy  condition  of  our  brethren  com- 
pels our  grief  to  break  out  into  action,  both  because  the  most 
urgent  necessity  stimulates  us,  and  an  opportunity  not  to  be 
despised  seems  to  present  itself.  The  party  of  the  Guises  have 
been  struck  with  a  certain  degree  of  consternation,  which  may 
wring  from  them  at  least  some  relaxation  of  their  rigour  and 
cruelty;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  defeat  which  the  Spaniard 
has  lately  suffered  in  a  naval  engagement,  has  produced  such 
an  effect  on  their  minds  that  they  will  bridle  in  for  some  time 
their  wonted  ferocity.     Meanwhile,  whatever  concessions  have 

'The  edict  of  Romorantin,  which  soon  followed  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise,  had 
displeased  all  parties  in  France  (May  15(50).  The  Guises  wore  preparing  to  strike  a 
new  blow  at  the  Reformed,  and  endeavoured  to  enrol  against  them  the  German  Reitres 
of  whom  they  had  convoked  the  chiefs  at  Meiningen.  To  dissipate  this  peril,  Calvin 
warmly  urged  Sturm  to  exhort  the  Gorman  princes  to  send  an  embassy  to  the  king.  It 
was  to  advise  him  to  re-establish  peace,  not  by  violence  and  punishments,  but  in  correct- 
ing the  abuses  of  the  church,  and  thus  preparing  by  a  moderate  reform  the  conciliation 
of  hostile  minds.  But  could  the  Guises,  absolute  masters  of  the  king  and  chiefs  of  the 
Catholic  party,  possibly  consent  to  any  concessions  of  which  the  first  result  would 
have  been  to  draw  on  their  own  ruin?  Was  the  queen  mother  Catharine  de  Medicis 
sincere  in  the  promise  she  had  made  to  convoke  a  council  to  put  a  term  to  the  troubles 
of  Prance  ?  Was  the  intervention  of  the  German  Princes,  in  fine,  likely  to  be  more 
favourably  received  than  had  been  the  petitions  of  the  churches  and  the  counsels  of 
moderate  men,  at  the  head  of  whom  the  Chancellor  L'Hopital  was  soon  about  to  place 
himself  ? 


1560.]  STUKM   AND    IIOTMAN.  109 

been  made  to  the  godly,  we  cannot  but  see  have  been  yielded 
with  a  fraudulent  and  insidious  intention,  that  their  enemies, 
having  first  secured  a  state  of  greater  tranquillity,  may  ere  long 
crush  them  when  off  their  guard  with  much  greater  facility. 
Certainly  nothing  can  be  more  fluctuating  than  their  conduct 
in  its  inconstancy.  Witness  their  virulence,  which,  however 
carefully  they  disguise  it,  always  betrays  itself  by  numerous 
symptoms. 

It  is  for  that  reason  that  we  have  need  of  an  external  remedy, 
and  we  hope  to  be  able  to  obtain  it  by  your  co-operation,  pro- 
vided only  you  make  a  slight  effort.  But  it  would  not  only  be 
superfluous  but  absurd  to  urge  you  too  vehemently  to  do  us  this 
service,  for  we  are  by  no  means  unacquainted  with  your  pious 
solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  our  brethren,  and  with  the  ardour 
of  your  zeal.  Now  this  is  the  point  in  question — that  the 
German  princes  by  a  solemn  embassy  should  partly  supplicate, 
partly  exhort  the  king,  that  as  the  best  means  of  appeasing  dis- 
turbances he  should  resolve  not  to  strike  terror  with  fire  and 
sword,  but  to  purge  the  church  of  its  corruptions  and  settle  it 
on  a  better  foundation.  For  it  is  quite  impossible  that  without 
some  sufficient  reformation  so  many  thousands  of  men  will  ever 
hold  their  peace.  But  that  you  may  have  a  clearer  conception 
of  what  we  desire,  we  have  thought  proper  to  write  out  on  a 
separate  sheet  the  very  formula  of  our  petition.  Moreover 
while  you  shall  be  engaged  in  this  undertaking,  we  will  make  it  our 
business  by  all  the  means  in  our  power  to  rouse  the  King  of 
Navarre  to  claim  the  regency  of  the  kingdom  that  had  been 
wrested  out  of  his  hands,'  nor  will  he  want  a  pretext  for  his 
demand,  for  it  is  notorious  that  the  kingdom  is  in  jeopardy  from 
these  commotions,  and  is  every  day  on  the  brink  of  ruin  from 
the  perfidy  or  supineness  of  the  Guises,  nor  can  their  arrogance 
and  avarice  be  any  longer  endured  without  involving  everything 
in  destruction. 

'  All  the  efforts  that  had  been  tried  till  then  to  stir  up  the  King  of  Navarre  and  in- 
gpiro  him  with  energetic  resolutions  bad  been  useless.  Hotman  wrote  to  Biillinger 
the  2nd  Sept.,  1559.  "  The  King  of  Navarre  has  most  miserably  disappointed  the 
hopes  of  all.  If  you  knew  how  earnestly  he  has  been  admonished,  what  conditions 
have  been  offered  him,  what  subsidies  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  with  what  sluggish- 
ness he  has  slighted  them  all,  you  would  be  truly  astonished." 


110  STURM    AND    IIOTMAN.  [1560. 

Certainly  unless  I  am  deceived,  the  king's  council,  when  they 
shall  feel  themselves  reduced  to  such  straits,  will  be  roused  from 
their  lethargy  to  consult  for  the  public  safety.  Above  all,  the 
queen  mother  must  be  goaded  on  by  the  sharpest  stimulants  to 
act  along  with  us,  for  unless  by  force  it  will  never  be  possible 
to  detach  her  from  the  party  of  the  Guises.  Nevertheless,  she 
will  adhere  to  whatever  she  is  persuaded  will  be  for  the  ad- 
vantage of  herself  and  her  children.  Other  details  you  will 
learn  from  the  messengers,  who,  when  you  shall  have  made  their 
acquaintance,  will  stand  in  need  of  no  recommendation ;  and  for 
the  cause  itself  we  know  that  as  a  matter  of  course  it  brings  its 
own  recommendation  along  with  it  in  your  eyes  no  less  than  in 
ours. 

Farewell,  then,  most  acccomplished  and  highly  esteemed  sirs. 
May  the  Lord  sustain  you  by  his  power,  govern  you  by  his 
Spirit,  and  bestow  on  you  every  blessing. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

What  follows  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Theodore  Beza: 
This  seems  a  fitting  moment  for  the  most  illustrious  princes 
to  send  an  embassy  to  the  king,  for  though  the  faction  of  the 
Guises  are  still  possessed  by  the  same  obstinacy,  and  there  are 
but  small  hopes  of  their  being  brought  to  equity,  yet  as  the  fear 
with  which  they  have  been  struck  has  troubled  their  reason,  so 
it  will  compel  them  to  put  on  at  least  some  appearances  of 
moderation.  But  as  matters  now  stand  in  France,  if  they  should 
make  ever  so  small  a  concession,  and  abate  somewhat  of  their 
rigour  towards  their  adversaries,  the  pure  religion  would  in  a 
very  brief  space  of  time  acquire  such  a  strength  as  it  would  not 
be  in  the  power  of  all  its  enemies  afterwards  to  diminish.  If 
the  most  illustrious  princes  then  have  ever  taken  an  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  the  French,  who  profess  a  zeal  for  true  piety, 
now  an  opportunity  is  offered  them  by  Divine  providence, 
of  making  use  of  their  authority  for  the  succour  of  these 
afflicted  men.  To  procrastinate  on  the  contrary  and  attempt 
no  remedy,  would  be  highly  dangerous,  because  as  often  as  the 
Guises  see  a  certain  calm  re-established,  they  again  commence 
to  give  vent  to  their  rage  with  the  same  license  as  before.     Be- 


1560.]  STURM    AND    HOTMAN.  Ill 

sides,  unless  our  friends  be  spurred  to  action  anew,  wliatever 
the  council  of  the  king  has  promised  will  end  in  nothing.  There 
is  a  necessity  for  us  then  to  ply  our  task  sedulously,  lest  the 
evil  should  gain  such  ground  as  no  longer  to  admit  of  a  remedy. 
Now  the  following  summary  of  our  petition,  if  it  meet  with 
the  approbation  of  the  most  illustrious  princes,  will  be  highly 
usefid. 

First  of  all,  then,  it  would  be  desirable  that  they  should  de- 
clare their  extreme  satisfaction  and  offer  their  congratulations 
to  the  king,  because  he  has  decided  upon  convoking  a  council 
for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  abuses  and  corruptions  with 
which  it  is  notorious  that  all  the  sincere  worshippers  of  God  are 
so  much  scandalized,  that  they  would  rather  a  thousand  times 
suffer  death  than  pine  away  for  ever  amid  such  pollutions ;  for 
that  this  is  the  only  means  by  which  all  troubles  can  be  quieted, 
the  issue  of  which  will  be  disastrous  unless  his  majesty  provide 
a  remedy  before  it  be  too  late. 

In  the  next  place,  the  deputation  might  proceed  to  expose 
that  the  most  illustrious  princes  exhort  the  king  and  his  coun- 
cil not  to  desist  from  so  just  and  advantageous  a  purpose,  though 
in  thus  exhorting  them  they  refrain  from  offering  their  services, 
inasmuch  as  they  are  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  Popish  priest- 
hood ;  that  nevertheless  they  most  ardently  desire  to  confederate 
to  the  extent  of  their  ability  in  the  furtherance  of  this  cause, 
and  that  in  any  matter  in  which  the  king  may  deem  their  good 
offices  of  any  utility  to  him,  he  may  confidently  count  on  them. 

In  the  third  place,  the  deputies  may  state  that  they  have  un- 
dertaken this  journey  chiefly  for  two  reasons — to  consult  first 
for  the  security  and  tranquillity  of  the  king  and  for  the  public 
welfare ;  that  the  illustrious  princes  are  of  opinion  that  this 
object  cannot  be  secured  otherwise  than  by  the  abolition  of 
superstitions,  which  exasperate  the  minds  of  all  good  men  to 
such  a  degree  that  they  hold  their  own  lives  cheap  in  compari- 
son with  the  legitimate  worship  of  God,  and  should  deem  them- 
selves traitors  did  they  even  manifest  a  semblance  of  assent  to 
what  their  conscience  repudiates ;  that  the  second  object  of 
their  mission  is  to  represent  that  persons  should  not  be  treated 
with  rigour  who  worship  God  in  purity,  and  keep  themselves 


112  JOHN  LUSEN.  [1560. 

apart  from  the  defilements  of  Popery ;  on  the  contrary,  if  they 
are  obedient  to  the  king,  as  their  duty  requires,  and  stir  up  no 
troubles,  but  confine  themselves  in  their  private  capacity  to  the 
observance  of  the  faith  which  they  have  embraced,  that  they 
should  be  tolerated  till  a  reformation  of  the  universal  church 
by  fitting  remedies  be  provided  for. 

If  the  king  as  well  as  his  council  shall  deign  to  take  into 
consideration  this  representation,  that  then  the  most  illustrious 
princes  are  already  disposed  and  will  most  cordially  hold  them, 
selves  prepared  to  lend  him  their  aid ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary, 
he  deal  harshly  with  his  subjects,  and  refuse  all  just  reforms, 
that  they  cannot  but  fear  the  most  unhappy  results  ;  and  for  that 
reason,  as  well  as  for  the  good-will  and  profound  respect  which 
they  entertain  for  the  king  and  kingdom  of  France,  they  not 
only  advise  but  beg  and  implore,  that  he  will  not  neglect  so  ex- 
cellent an  opportunity  of  establishing  peace  on  a  firm  basis,  in 
continuing  to  struggle  against  necessity. 

\^Lat.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXIV.— To  John  Lusen.^ 

Anxieties  about  the  Churches  of  Poland — Refutation  of  the  errors  of  Stancari. 

Geneva,  9th  June,  1560. 

You  write  to  us,  honoured  brother  in  the  Lord,  that  Vergerio 
keeps  gadding  up  and  down,  and  poisoning  with  his  admix- 
tures the  pure  doctrines  of  religion.  Respecting  his  conduct, 
complaints  had  long  ago  been  made  to  us  both  by  John  Laski 
and  others,  who  do  not  approve  of  such  subtile  devices.  But 
since  it  does  not  belong  to  us  to  impose  silence  on  a  man  na- 
turally inclined  to  crooked  ways,  we  have  only  to  entreat  God  to 
check  his  career.  The  Seigneur  Palatine  of  Wilna  should  also 
be  put  in  mind  to  guard  against  his  insidious  arts,  a  task  which 
we  were  just  on  the  point  of  undertaking,  had  time  permitted  ; 
though  as  he  is  a  silly,  meddlesome  creature,  he  can  scarcely 

'  On  the  back :  To  John  Lusen,  Minister  of  a  Church  in  Poland. 


1560.]  JOHN  LUSEN.  113 

deceive  a  second  time  any  one  possessed  of  even  ordinary  com- 
mon sense.  We  are  surprised,  notwithstanding,  that  he  h;is 
carried  his  impudence  so  far  as  also  to  have  been  tampering 
in  England,  but  the  more  he  brings  himself  forward  the  less 
dangerous,  we  fancy,  he  will  prove,  since  people  shall  thus 
have  an  opportunity  of  ascertaining  not  only  his  deceit  but 
his  foolishness.  We  have  not  thought  proper  to  attack  the 
supporters  of  Stancari,*  partly  because  they  are  unknown  to 
us,  and  partly  because  we  believed  that  they  might  be  more 
easily  brought  back  to  a  sound  mind,  should  they  not  be  stigma- 
tized by  any  peculiar  mark  of  disgrace.  For,  if  they  show  any 
deference  to  our  judgment,  they  will  learn  from  our  letter  to 
you  that  they  ought  to  retrace  their  steps.  ~  And  to  put  an  end 
to  all  this  shuffling,  know  that  Stancari  has  falsely  put  forward 
our  names  among  you  to  screen  himself.  Perhaps  before  the 
time  of  the  Frankfort  Fair,  our  letter  will  be  published  in  which 
we  proclaim  that  we  hold  in  perfect  abhorrence  his  extravagant 
dogma.^  Moreover,  you  will  be  made  aware  by  our  answer  to 
him  that  we  disapprove  of  what  is  written  by  you  about  the 
eternal  priesthood  of  Christ,  as  if  Christ  were  not  necessarily 
eternal  since  he  was  appointed  to  be  a  priest  not  less  than  a 
mediator.  If  you  listen  to  our  advice,  you  will  make  some 
change  in  that  passage,  lest  your  adversaries  should  make  a 
handle  of  it  for  calumniating  you.     We  have  not  had  leisure 

to  write  to  the  illustrious  Bishop  of  C ,"  because  we  have 

had  all  our  time  absorbed  by  continual  writings,  and  it  is  in- 
credible what  a  pressure  of  business  overwhelms  us  from  the 
state  of  affairs  in  France.  The  unfortunate  churches  of  that 
country  are  oppressed  by  the  most  cruel  tyranny.  Would  to 
God  that  half  the  liberty,  at  least,  were  allowed  to  them  which 
you  state  to  be  enjoyed  by  those  of  Poland,  though  the  Saxons, 

'  Francisco  Stancari,  a  native  of  Mantua,  and  a  distinguished  Orientalist,  was  one 
of  the  principal  apostles  of  the  Antitrinitarian  doctrines  in  Poland.  lie  maintained 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  mediator  between  God  and  man,  only  in  virtue  of  his  humanity, 
and  while  pretending  to  steer  at  an  equal  distance  from  the  errors  of  Trithcism  and 
Arianisni,  ovHrthrew  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity  by  subtle  interpretations. 

'Answer  to  the  Polish  Brethren  respecting  the  manner  in  which  Christ  is  media- 
tor, in  order  to  refute  the  error  of  Stancari.     1560,  in  Svo-     Opera,  vol.  viii. 

'  A  word  illegible  in  the  text. 

15 


114  NICHOLAS    DES    GALLARS.  [1560. 

■without  employing  the  sword  or  other  weapons,  yet  by  practising 
one  species  of  tyranny,  ai'e  almost  a  match  for  Antichrist  and 
his  satellites  in  cruelty.  Unless  God  from  heaven  provide  a 
remedy  for  so  many  evils,  a  frightful  dispersion  is  impending 
over  all  the  churches.  But  whatever  happen,  let  us  hold  on 
with  constancy  in  the  course  of  our  vocation. 

Farewell,  distinguished  sir  and  renowned  brother.     May  the 
Lord  always  stand  by,  protect,  and  strengthen  you  to  the  end. 
[Laf.  On'g.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXV. — To  Nicholas  des  Gallars.^ 

Counsels  for  the  direction  of  the  Church — Domestic  news. 

Geneva,  16</t  June,  1560. 

We  have  learned  that  certain  persons  of  your  congregation 
have  made  themselves  busy  in  order  to  have  the  charge  of  su- 
perintendent, which  was  entrusted  by  the  Queen  and  her  coun- 
cil to  the  reverend  father,  the  Bishop  of  London,  transferred 
to  another.  If  that  is  true,  you  must  do  your  endeavour  to 
check  their  importunate  officiousness,  for  which  there  will  be 
found  no  other  motive  than  private  cupidity.  For  the  pretext 
which  they  bring  forward,  that  it  is  uncertain  what  the  character 
of  his  successor  may  turn  out  to  be,  is  of  no  sort  of  importance 
to  you,  since  the  inspection  over  your  churches  has  not  been 
accorded  to  any  Bishop  of  London  whatsoever,  but  to  this  up- 
right, faithful,  and  sincere  protector  of  your  liberty.  Should 
any  other  equally  fit  be  at  your  disposal,  still,  in  my  judgment, 
it  would  be  better  for  you  to  make  no  change,  because  it  is  not 

'  By  a  letter  of  the  3d  June,  Des  Gallars  informed  Calvin  of  the  gracious  receptiou 
which  he  had  met  with  from  the  Bishop  of  London.  "I  presented  to  him  your  let- 
ter, says  he,  which  he  read  with  an  appearance  of  great  satisfaction.  He  testified  to 
me  his  gratitude  for  it,  and  seemed  pleased  that  you  had  written  to  him  in  so  friendly 
a  manner  and  in  reminding  him  of  his  duties.  He  then  <ifFered  me  his  friendly  ser- 
vices with  a  ready  access  to  his  person  as  often  as  I  should  desire  it."  Ecclesiastical 
discords,  which  seemed  to  be  the  sad  lot  of  the  French  congregations  abroad,  and  the 
state  of  his  health,  abridged  Des  Gallars'  stay  in  England.  He  became  pastor  of  the 
Church  of  Orleans  in  1661. 


1560.]  THE  EAiiL  or  Bi-DroiiD.  115 

advantageous  for  you  to  alienate  from  you  the  good-will  of  the 
man  who  has  enabraced  you  with  the  warmest  affection,  who 
has  undertaken  to  defend  the  repose  of  your  church,  whose 
activity  and  courage  in  procuring  you  tranquillity  you  have 
already  experienced,  and  whose  authority,  in  a  word,  is  more 
than  ever  necessary  to  you.  Now,  since  it  is  probable  that  this 
matter  has  been  canvassed  among  a  good  many  of  you,  should 
any  report  of  it  come  to  his  ears,  and  should  you  suppose  that 
he  has  been  offended,  you  will,  I  trust,  undertake  the  office  of 
interpreter,  that  he  may  pardon  the  folly  of  those  who  have 
erred  from  an  ill-judged  excess  of  zeal.  Assuredly  he  must  be 
appeased,  that  he  may  not  cease  to  extend  to  your  church  the 
same  favour  which  he  began  to  entertain  towards  it.  And 
should  you  discover  any  persons  of  untractable  dispositions, 
lose  no  time  in  letting  them  know  that  for  another  end  you  had 
been  sent  over  to  them  than  that  of  being  mixed  up  with  their 
turbulent  counsels,  and  that  carried  away  by  them  you  should 
neglect  the  common  welfare  of  the  flock. 

Your  son  Amos  was  lately  tormented  during  four  days  by  so 
severe  an  attack  of  colic  that  we  hardly  entertained  any  hopes 
of  his  life.  He  is  not  yet  quite  recovered,  but  the  pains  being 
abated  he  is  out  of  danger.  Your  wife  is  gradually  recovering 
strength.  She  now  goes  abroad,  and  we  are  in  hopes  that  she 
will  continue  to  enjoy  tolerable  health. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  brother  and  faithful  servant  of  Christ. 
May  God  always  prosper  you,  direct  you  by  the  spirit  of  wis- 
dom and  fortitude,  and  keep  you  in  safety.  Salute  all  friends. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXYI. — To  THE  Earl  of  Bedford.' 

Agitations  of  Europe — Wishes  for  the  re-establishment  of  peace,  and  for  the  mar- 
riage of  the  Queen  of  England. 

Geneva,  June,  ISfiO. 

During  the  short  interval  that  has  elapsed  since  I  wrote  to 

'  Without  date :  To  the  generous  and  most  noble  seigneur,  the  Earl  of  Bedford.  .  .  . 
Member  of  the  Privy  Council,  this  nobleman  took  an  important  part  in  the  niea.''ure3 
wliich  prepared  the  definitive  triumph  of  the  Kefurmatiuu  under  Elixubetb. 


116  THE    EARL    OF   BEDFORD.  [1560. 

you,  most  illustrious  and  generous  seigneur,  by  our  colleague, 
Nicholas  cles  Gallars,  nothing  has  occurred  to  furnish  me  mat- 
ter for  a  letter,  except  that  France  being  occupied  with  her  pre- 
parations for  the  Scottish  war,'  the  terrible  threats  with  which 
this  city  was  assailed  from  all  sides  are  momentarily  suspended. 
In  the  space  of  four  years  we  were  a  hundred  times  marked  out 
for  destruction,  nor  are  we  yet  exempt  from  danger  if  our  ene- 
mies were  only  delivered  from  their  apprehensions  in  other 
quarters ;  but  the  loss  of  the  Spanish  fleet  has  fallen  out  very 
opportunely  for  us,  and  your  Queen  keeps  the  French  on  the 
alert,  who,  by  their  caresses,  confess  their  fears  of  her  power. 
Would  that  disturbances  being  settled,  and  the  din  of  arms 
appeased,  you  could  enjoy  a  little  tranquillity  for  firmly  esta- 
blishing piety,  and  purging  the  worship  of  God  from  all  the 
pollutions  of  Popery,  and  that  those  who  without  a  cause  seek 
our  ruin  would  leave  us  a  little  repose,  since  we  desire  nothing 
but  to  live  unnoticed  in  peace  with  all  the  world,  and  beyond 
the  reach  of  harm  in  our  little  corner,  like  the  tortoise  in  its 
shell.  But  as  many  conspire  for  our  destruction,  God  will  shel- 
ter us  under  the  covert  of  his  wings.  It  is  very  painful  to  all 
pious  men,  that  in  organizing  a  church  conformably  to  the  mo- 
del held  out  to  us  in  the  Scriptures,  your  progress  should  be  so 
very  slow ;  and,  to  unbosom  myself  freely  to  you,  it  is  no  less  a 
matter  of  regret  to  them  that  your  Queen  does  not  consult  the 
good  of  posterity,  and  give  her  mind  to  raise  up  a  race  of  chil- 
dren to  succeed  her.^     For  what  Avill  take  place,  think  you, 

'  The  first  religious  disturbances  broke  out  in  Scotland  in  1559.  The  lords  of  the 
congregation  took  possession  of  Edinburgh,  whilst  the  queen  regent,  Mary  of  Lor- 
raine, -withdrew  to  Leith  with  the  French  troops  that  had  come  to  her  assistance.  An 
English  fleet  was  going  to  blockade  the  port  of  Leith  and  support  the  Reforiued. 
See  Hume's  History  of  England,  chap,  xxxviii.,  §  9  and  10. 

"  The  hand  of  the  Queen  was  then  sought  by  the  Archduke  Charles,  second  son  of 
the  Emperor,  as  well  as  by  Casimir,  son  of  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  as  this  latter 
prince  professed  the  Reformed  religion,  he  thought  himself,  on  that  account,  better 
entitled  to  succeed  in  his  addresses.  Eric,  King  of  Sweden,  and  Adolph,  Duke  of 
Holstein,  were  encouraged  by  the  same  views  to  become  suitors,  and  the  Earl  of  Ar- 
ran,  heir  to  the  crown  of  Scotland,  was  by  the  states  of  that  kingdom  recommended 
to  her  as  a  suitable  marriage.  Even  some  of  her  own  subjects  entertained  hopes  of 
success — The  Earl  of  Arundel,  Sir  William  Pickering,  and  Lord  Robert  Dudley.  The 
policy  of  the  Queen  was  not  to  disgust  any  of  the  pretenders  to  her  hand  by  too  ab- 
solute a  refusal.     See  Hume,  chiip.  xxxviii.,  g  14. 


1560.]  THE    WALDENSES.  117 

should  she  die  ■without  leaving  any  offspring?  But  transported 
by  my  anxiet}'',  and  my  love  of  country,  I  overstep  the  bounds 
which  I  had  prescribed  to  myself.  I  could  not,  however,  refrain 
from  making  a  tacit  allusion  to  the  solicitude  of  those  who  Avish 
a  continual  duration  of  good  fortune  to  your  nation.  In  the 
meantime,  most  illustrious  seigneur,  I  rejoice  that  you  are  un- 
wearied in  your  holy  zeal  for  piety,  and  advancing  the  progress 
of  the  church,  and  I  pray  God  from  the  heart,  to  preserve  you 
more  and  more,  enrich  you  with  his  gifts,  and  shield  you  with 
his  protection. 

Farewell,  most  noble  and  highly  esteemed  seigneur. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Lihrary  of  Paris,  Dupuy,  102.] 


DLXVIL— To  THE  Waldenses.i 

He  exhorts  thein  to  keep  up  friendly  relations  with  the  Reformed  churches  of  Poland. 

Geneva,  !«<  July,  1560. 

After  the  brother  from  whom  I  received  your  letter  had,  in  a 
private  interview,  exposed  to  me  your  instructions,  as  I  per- 
ceived that  he  had  been  sent  not  to  me  individually,  but  also  to 
my  colleagues,  I  exhorted  him  to  repeat  the  same  before  our 
society.  My  answer  will,  therefore,  express  the  common  opi- 
nion of  all.  And,  in  the  first  place,  we  return  you  no  common 
thanks,  because  you  have  not  hesitated  to  send  to  us  brethren 
who  should  be  witnesses,  and,  as  it  were,  vouchers  of  your  affec- 
tion towards  us,  and  of  your  brotherly  connection,  and  there- 
fore we  have  the  more  willingly  welcomed  this  act  of  courtesy 

'  To  the  Waldenses  (or  Vaudois)  of  Bohemia.  Though  commonly  designated  hy 
the  name  of  Waldenses,  the  members  of  these  primitive  churches  of  Bohemia  seemed 
rather  to  be  an  offshoot  of  the  religious  revolution  of  which  John  Huss  was  the  leader 
and  the  martyr.  In  a  letter  to  Calvin,  dated  from  Carmel  in  Bohemia,  they  had 
manifested  a  desire  to  connect  themselves  more  closely  with  the  Reformed  churches. 
"  We  see  the  enemies  of  our  Lord  and  of  the  whole  church  lending  one  another  mu- 
tual aid,  and  evidently  conspiring  to  oppress  the  truth.  As  it  is  our  duty  vigor- 
ously to  resist  them,  so  we  should  take  care  to  bo  all  as  one  body  in  the  Lord." 
Calvin  replied  to  this  pious  desire  in  exhorting  them  to  make  some  concessions  on 
the  question  of  the  sacraments,  and  to  contribute  for  their  own  part  to  appease  the 
religious  discords  which  agitated  the  churches  of  Poland. 


118  THE    AYALDENSES.  [1560. 

on  your  part,  because  it  flowed  from  a  sincere  zeal  for  piety. 
We  desire,  in  our  turn,  that  you  should  be  equally  persuaded 
how  much  our  inclinations  prompt  us  to  cherish  a  holy  unity. 
And  assuredly,  when  we  are  separated  from  each  other  by  such 
extensive  tracts  of  country,  and  surrounded  on  every  side  by 
enemies  that  occupy  nearly  the  whole  world,  to  enjoy  this  con- 
solation of  our  dispersion  is  dear  and  delightful.  Let  us  then 
bear  witness,  Avith  common  consent,  that  wo  have  one  Father  in 
heaven,  and  that  we  form  one,  body  under  Christ  our  Head. 
This  we  are  confidently  assured  you  will  do,  and  we  will  make 
it  our  business  to  make  you  feel  that  this  is  in  reality  what  we 
have  most  at  heart.  Now,  we  are  convinced  that  there  is  no 
better  bond  for  cementina;  and  strengthenino;  concord  than  not 
to  lend  too  credulous  an  ear  to  evil  reports  that  people  circulate 
about  one  another.  And,  in  truth,  in  this  point  we  do  not 
think  that  we  have  at  all  failed  in  our  duty  towards  you ;  for, 
with  respect  to  the  letter  written  to  the  Poles,  about  which  the 
brother  in  your  name  seemed  indirectly  to  complain,  we  are  not 
conscious  of  having  committed  any  fault,  and  you  yourselves, 
having  in  your  equity  duly  considered  our  reasons,  will  find 
that  being  consulted  on  that  cause  we  could  not  have  given  an 
answer  with  greater  courtesy,  nor  with  more  moderation.  Cer- 
tainly we  did  not  mention  you  invidiously,  and  as  far  as  the 
case  permitted  we  strove  to  mitigate  the  ofi"ences  which  had 
arisen  to  obviate  worse  dissensions,  and  so  to  reconcile  the  parties 
on  both  sides,  that  at  the  very  outset  you  might  be  fellow-workers 
with  the  Poles  in  erectino;  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  We  were  on 
the  point  of  writing  to  you,  also,  had  an  opportunity  presented 
itself;  but  it  cannot  escape  your  observation  how  difiicult  the 
means  of  communication  are  between  countries  lying  so  remote 
from  each  other ;  now  that  a  more  favourable  opportunity  has 
been  offered,  we  shall  frankly  make  known  our  sentiments.  Do 
you  yourselves  in  your  wisdom  maturely  reflect,  even  if  we  said 
nothing  on  the  vast  importance  of  your  holding  out  a  hand  to 
the  Poles,  in  order  that  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  gospel  may 
make  progress  among  them.  For  no  one  can  doubt  that  your 
dissension,  if  it  be  remarked  by  the  enemy,  will  throw  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  undertakings  already  so  well  and  happily  begun. 


1560.J  THE    WALDENSES.  119 

The  brother  has  assigned  to  us  some  reasons  more  specious  than 
real,  why  you  should  dread  to  contract  a  more  intimate  union 
with  them ;  namely,  that  you  perceive  them  to  be  rent  by  per- 
verse factions.  Now  this  motive  should  act  the  other  way,  and 
stimulate  you  to  form  a  closer  connection,  in  order  to  counter- 
act the  evils  which  are  springing  up  and  spreading  so  fast. 
For  the  authority  of  so  many  churches  lending  one  another 
mutual  aid  would  curb  those  wild  spirits,  that,  in  a  state  of  dis- 
persion, claim  to  themselves  a  license  to  breed  tumults  and  dis- 
turb all  order.  At  present,  the  pious  brethren,  deprived  of 
your  co-operation,  have  a  much  harder  task  to  perform.  If  Sa- 
tan directs  the  attacks  of  Stancari,  George  Blandrata,  and  others 
against  Poland,  is  it  not  your  duty  to  come  to  the  rescue  ?  If 
you  neglect  it,  reflect  whether  the  aid  of  your  brethren  may  not 
one  day  fail  yourselves.  For  it  will  not  be  always  in  your  own 
power  to  escape  contentions  from  which  God  has  hitherto  kept 
you  exempt.  The  controversy  respecting  the  imparting  to  us 
of  Christ's  flesh  and  blood  is  what  prevents  people  from  coalesc- 
ing with  one  another.  We  have  given  it  as  our  opinion  that 
on  this  point  a  fitting  and  unambiguous  explanation,  given  and 
received  by  the  two  parties,  is  the  way  to  remove  this  stumblirfg- 
block.  If  this  advice  displease  you,  experience  will  one  day 
prove  it  to  have  been  sound  and  salutary.  Two  things,  per- 
haps, have  given  you  some  offence  ;  first,  because  we  have  writ- 
ten that  there  is  an  obscure  and  ambiguous  brevity  in  your  con- 
fession, and  that  it  stands  in  need  of  greater  precision  in  its 
definitions ;  and  next,  that  in  your  apology  there  is  too  much 
vehemence  and  animosity  against  all  those  who,  not  content 
with  the  bare  form  of  the  expression,  would  like  to  have  the 
light  of  a  sound  interpretation  thrown  on  these  words,  in  which 
you  assert  that  the  bread  is  the  body  of  Christ.  We  know  the 
plausible  plea  of  those  who,  under  the  shade  of  the  Augsburg 
confession,  consulting  only  their  ease  and  a  quiet  life,  fly  from 
every  thing  which  might  give  them  trouble ;  in  one  word,  from 
the  odium  of  the  cross  itself.  What  opinion  M.  Philip  Melanc- 
thon,  himself  the  author  of  the  confession,'  entertained  on  this 

*  Melancthon  died  in  the  month  of  April  preceding,  bis  heart  broken  by  the  eccle- 
siastical disorders  of  which  he  had  been  the  sorrowing  but  powerless  witness,  deplor- 


120  THE    WALDENSES.  [1560. 

matter  is  not  unknown  to  you,  and  I  shall  be  forced  perhaps  to 
let  the  whole  world  know  it,  in  consequence  of  the  double  deal- 
ing of  those  men  who  endeavour  to  spread  darkness  over  a 
transparent  light.  And  yet,  though  we  reverently  cherish  the 
memory  of  Philip,  we  do  not  make  use  of  his  authority  to  crush 
our  adversai'ies ;  we  only  show  how  unfairly  they  shelter  them- 
selves under  the  confession  of  Augsburg,  when  nothing  can  be 
conceived  more  alien  than  they  are  from  the  sentiments  of  its 
author.  We,  however,  persist  in  our  opinion  (let  this  be  said 
without  giving  you  offence)  that  the  formula  of  your  confession 
cannot  be  adopted  simply  as  it  stands  without  danger,  and  that 
to  subscribe  to  it  before  it  had  received  a  suitable  interpretation, 
would  be  the  origin  and  subject  of  many  evils  to  the  Poles. 
We  have  no  difficulty  in  overlooking  your  vehemence,  for  it  gives 
us  no  pleasure  to  rake  up  old  griefs,  when  it  is  our  desire  that 
they  should  be  buried  in  oblivion.  Only  this  we  may  be  allowed 
to  say,  that  it  cannot  decently  be  denied  that  the  author  of  your 
apology  exceeded  the  bounds  of  moderation.  With  regard  to 
the  charge  with  which  your  messenger  has  reproached  me,  (for 
the  sake  of  retaliation,  no  doubt,)  that  I  too  in  some  of  my 
wfitings  break  out  into  sallies  of  passion,  though  I  do  not  en- 
tirely deny  it,  yet  it  is  irrelevantly  brought  forward.  If  I,  in- 
deed, inveigh  rather  too  sharply  against  some  unprincipled  mis- 
creants, the  manner  of  your  apology  is  altogether  dissimilar, 
for  it  confounds  without  discrimination  or  distinction  many  pious 
and  learned  men  with  the  enemies  of  the  truth.  Certainly  if 
it  was  your  intention  to  assail  the  error  of  certain  persons,  you 
were  bound  to  draw  a  line  of  demarkation  so  as  not  to  involve 
in  one  common  charge  the  innocent  and  the  guilty.  But  to  put 
a  stop  to  all  contention,  we  only  beg  and  entreat  you,  if  we  have 
candidly  pointed  out  the  way  which  we  judged  most  efficacious 

ing,  however,  his  own  weakness.  Calvin,  in  one  of  his  writings,  paid  him  the  most 
eloquent  homage  : — "  0  Philip,  who  art  now  in  the  bosom  of  Christ,  and  in  peace 
expectest  us,  how  often  fatigued  by  the  combat,  and  reposing  thy  head  on  my  breast, 
hast  thou  said  to  me,  God  grant  me  to  die  upon  this  heart !  and  I  too  have  a  thou- 
sand times  wished  that  we  had  lived  together.  Thou  wouldst  have  shown  more 
courage  for  the  battle,  and  they  who  triumphed  over  thy  great  goodness,  which  they 
styled  weakness,  would  have  been  restrained  within  bounds  which  they  would  not 
have  dared  to  pass." — Culvinus  contra  Heshusium,  Opera,  vol.  viii. 


1560.]  THE   DUCUESS    OF   FERRARA.  121 

for  healing  strife  and  banishing  angrj  passions,  that  you  should 
not  consider  that  as  any  slight  put  upon  you ;  nor  have  we  so 
overweening  an  opinion  of  ourselves  as  not  to  bear  patiently 
being  blamed  or  admonished,  if  it  should  chance  that  we  have 
at  any  time  acted  with  too  little  circumspection. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  and  respected  brethren.  We  pray 
our  heavenly  Father  to  govern  you  continually  by  his  Spirit,  to 
shield  you  with  his  protection,  to  enrich  you  with  his  gifts,  and 
to  bless  all  your  holy  labours. 

John  Calvin, 

In  the  name  of  all. 
[Calvin's  Lat.  Corirsp. —  Opei'a,  ix.,  p.  1-4.] 


DLXVIII. — To  THE  Duchess  of  Ferrara.' 

He  apologizes  for  not  having  been  able  to  send  her  a  minister — exhorts  her  to  free 
herself  from  the  obligation  of  an  oath  they  have  imposed  on  her,  and  to  show  her- 
self more  firm  in  the  profession  of  the  gospel. 

Geneva,  bth  July,  1560. 

Madame  : — Though  I  have  been  often  required  and  solicited 
on  your  part,  I  have  never  been  able  to  decide  upon  sending 
you  a  man  such  'as  you  demanded,  fearing  lest  those  who 
brought  me  word,  might  from  excess  of  zeal  have  gone 
further  than  your  intention.  For  I  had  no  letters  from  you  to 
certify  if  what  they  told  me  was  exact  or  not ;  and  even  at  pre- 
sent, Madame,  I  should  have  very  much  wished  to  have  been 

'  This  princess  was  on  the  point  of  quitting  Italy.  AVidow  of  Hercules  d'Este  (3d 
October  1559),  she  began  her  journey  to  return  to  France  in  the  month  of  September 
1560,  followed  by  the  homage  and  regrets  of  the  population  of  Ferrara  :  "The  loss  of 
this  royal  princess  gave  great  sorrow  to  the  population  of  Ferrara,  because  attaching 
everybody  to  her  by  the  liveliness  of  her  disposition  and  her  pleasing  manners,  she 
was  in  the  highest  degree  beloved  by  every  body.  And  so  much  the  more  that  she 
had  not  her  match  for  her  liljeralitics,  nor  was  she  over  tired  of  relieving  the  poor 
with  her  alms."  Muratori,  Antich.  Eatensi,  vol.  ii.  p.  389.  Aunt  of  the  young  king 
Francis  II.  and  of  the  regent  Catherine  of  Medicis,  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  Imped  to  exer- 
cise at  the  court  of  France  nn  influence  useful  to  the  Reformed  party.  Her  departure 
from  Ferrani  excited  the  regrets  of  Calvin,  who  had  never  ceased  to  found  on  thia 
princess  great  hopes  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  in  Italy. 

16 


122  THE   DUCHESS    OF   FERRARA.  [15C0. 

better  assured,  in  order  to  write  to  you  more  freely.  Not  that 
I  distrust  the  bearer,  who  has  given  me  pretty  good  proofs  to 
Convince  me  that  he  was  sent  by  you,  but  you  know,  Madame, 
how  many  persons  may  be  suborned  to  draw  from  me  things 
that  might  occasion  you  much  trouble  and  regret. 

As  to  the  oath'  which  you  have  been  constrained  to  take, 
because  you  have  failed  in  your  duty  and  offended  God  in  taking 
it,  so  you  are  not  bound  to  keep  it,  any  more  than  a  super- 
stitious vow.  You  know,  Madame,  that  Herod  is  not  only  not 
approved  of  for  having  too  well  observed  the  oath  which  he  had 
taken  in  an  unguarded  moment,  but  it  is  imputed  to  him  for  a 
two-fold  condemnation.  This  I  say  to  you,  not  to  importune 
you  to  write  to  me,  but  that  you  may  have  no  scruples  about 
what  God  leaves  you  free  to  do,  and  of  which  he  absolves  you. 
I  have  discharged  my  duty  in  letting  you  know. 

With  respect  to  the  journey  which  you  have  resolved  upon, 
though  the  captivity  in  which  you  are,  and  have  been  too  long 
kept,  is  hard  and  worthy  of  compassion,  nevertheless,  I  must 
declare  to  you,  Madame,  that  you  will  not  have  gained  much 
by  having  escaped  from  one  gulf  to  be  plunged  into  another. 
For  I  do  not  see  in  what  this  change  can  better  your  condition. 
The  government  with  which  they  intend  to  mix  you  up  is  at  pre- 
sent in  such  disorder  that  everybody  utters  a  cry  of  alarm. 
Should  you  take  some  share  in  its  proceedings,  and  should  your 
opinions  be  listened  to,  I  am  tolerably  satisfied  things  will  not 
go  on  quite  so  badly.  But  that  is  not  what  they  are  aiming  at. 
They  want  to  screen  themselves  under  your  name,  to  foster  the 
evil  which  people  can  no  longer  endure.  Now  to  go  and  thrust 
yourself  into  the  middle  of  these  disorders  is  manifestly  a  tempt- 
ing of  God.  I  desire  your  prosperity,  Madame,  as  much  as 
possible ;  but  if  the  elevation  and  grandeur  of  the  world  should 
prevent  you  from  approaching  to  God,  I  should  be  a  traitor  to 
your  interests  in  making  you  believe  that  black  is  white.  If 
you  were  thoroughly  resolved  to  conduct  yourself  with  straight- 
forwardness and  greater  magnanimity  than  you  have  done 
hitherto,  I  should  entreat  you  forthwith  to  take  a  greater  share 

•  Hercules  d'Este,  on  his  death-bed,  hfid  exacted  of  his  wife  an  oath  that  she  would 
no  longer  keep  up  a  correspondence  with  Calvin.     (Library  of  Ferrara.) 


luGO.]  THE   DUCHESS   OF   FERRARA.  123 

in  the  management  of  aflfairs,  than  what  they  offer  you ;  but  if  it 
is  only  to  say  amen  to  everything  which  is  condemned  both  by 
God  and  men,  I  have  nothing  to  say,  but  that  you  beware  of 
falling  from  bad  into  worse.  I  do  not  mean,  however,  Madame, 
to  advise  you  to  contiaiue  in  your  present  state  of  bondage,  nor  to 
go  to  sleep  in  it,  for  there  has  been  something  too  much  of  that 
in  times  past.  Only  I  beseech  you  to  make  such  a  change  as 
may  lead  you  to  serve  God  unfeignedly,  and  tend  towards  the 
right  mark,  and  not  to  entangle  yourself  in  snares  it  might  be 
difficult  for  you  to  break,  and  which  might  fetter  you  as  much 
as,  and  even  more  than  the  former  ones. 

However  that  may  be,  Madame,  at  any  rate,  you  are  con- 
tinuing too  long  in  a  languid  state,  and  if  you  do  not  take  com- 
passion on  yourself,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  you  may  seek,  when 
it  is  too  late,  a  remedy  for  your  malady.  Besides  what  God 
has  so  long  taught  you  by  his  word,  age  admonishes  you  to  re- 
flect that  our  heritage  and  eternal  rest  is  not  here  below,  and 
Jesus  Christ  certainly  deserves  that  you  should  forget  for  him 
both  France  and  Ferrara.  God  has  also  by  your  widowhood 
rendered  you  more  disencumbered  and  free,  in  order  that  he 
might  draw  you  entirely  to  himself.  I  wish  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  demonstrating  more  fully  these  things  to  you  by  word 
of  mouth,  and  that  not  once,  but  from  day  to  day ;  but  I  leave 
you  to  meditate  on  them  in  your  prudence,  more  fully  than  any- 
thing I  have  written  could  suggest. 

Madame,  having  commended  me  humbly  to  your  gracious 
favour,  I  entreat  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you  in  his  pro- 
tection, to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  to  increase  you  in  all 
good. 

\Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


124  BULLINGER.  [1560. 


DLXIX.— To  BULLINGER. 

Mission  of  Theodore  Beza  in  France — Counsels  to  the  churches  of  that  country — 
Sending  off  of  four  pupils  to  Zurich — Death  of  a  minister  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  &th  September,  1560.' 

Had  I  been  informed  in  time  of  the  departure  of  this  mes- 
senger, I  should  have  written  to  you  at  greater  length;  but  as 
I  write  to  you  after  supper  and  fatigued  by  my  day's  labour, 
you  will  excuse  my  brevity,  especially  as  I  am  obliged  to  prepare 
myself  for  to-morrow's  sermon.  Respecting  the  troubles  in 
France,  I  doubt  not  but  many  and  various  rumours  are  flying 
about  among  you  as  nearly  everywhere.  Of  most  that  is  going 
on  I  am  ignorant.  What  many  people  expect  it  is  unnecessary 
to  write,  not  to  mix  myself  up  with  their  foolish  conjectures. 
Beza  at  my  request  has  undertaken  a  mission  both  troublesome 
and  dangerous,  and  which  will  expose  him  to  all  sorts  of  incon- 
venience. I  do  not,  however,  repent  of  my  advice.^  Unless  I 
had  interposed,  many  districts  would  have  been  involved  in  a 
dreadful  conflagration. 

If  God  bless  our  counsels,  there  will  be  ample  matter  for  congra- 
tulation. Whatever  fall  out,  all  good  men,  after  being  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  circumstances,  will  judge  that  we  have  not 
attempted  any  thing  rashly.  The  object  of  our  efforts  is  to 
prevent  our  coreligionists  from  stirring  up  tumults.  Hitherto 
we  have  met  with  much  success.  The  events  of  futurity  are  in 
the  hand  of  God.  In  the  meantime  an  excess  of  confidence  has 
turned  the  heads  of  our  people.  For  in  opposition  to  what  we 
have  always  forbidden,  they  seize  upon  the  churches  or  preach 

'  To  the  date  is  subjoined :  "on  the  eve  of  the  messenger's  departure." 
'^  The  object  of  this  mission  vpas  to  make  another  attempt  to  decide  the  King  of 
Navarre  to  repair  to  the  court  and  avail  himself  of  the  approaching  meeting  of  the 
States  General,  in  order  to  destroy  the  power  of  the  Princes  of  Lorraine.  But  Hot- 
man  and  Beza  could  obtain  nothing  of  the  weak  and  vainglorious  Bourbon.  Here 
are  the  terms  in  which  the  i;egisters  of  the  society  of  Geneva  announce  the  mission 
of  Beza:  "  The  twentieth  of  July  of  the  same  year  (1560)  our  brother  M.  de  Beza  was 
sent  into  Gascony  to  the  King  of  Navarre  in  order  to  instruct  him  in  the  word  of 
God." 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  125 

in  public  places.  The  brethren  sent  by  us  make  this  excuse 
for  themselves  that  they  are  dragged  forward  contrary  to  their 
inclination  or  compelled  by  necessity,  as  there  is  no  private 
dwelling  capable  of  containing  four  thousand  people.  But  I 
am  straitened  for  time — ere  long  I  shall  let  you  know  more. 

The  senate  has  commissioned  me  to  make  a  request  to  you 
and  your  brethren  about  a  matter  in  itself  most  reasonable  and 
which  will  not  be  disagreeable  to  you.  It  has  resolved  to 
bring  up  at  the  public  charge  in  your  city  four  young  lads,  to  be 
instructed  in  the  branches  of  a  liberal  education,  and  to  learn 
your  language.  The  youths  of  whom  in  the  judgment  of  their 
schoolmasters  the  fairest  hopes  are  entertained,  have  been  pitched 
upon.  Now  in  the  name  of  the  senate  I  make  an  appeal  to 
your  friendship  to  see  them  provided  with  lodgings,  where  they 
may  be  kept  under  a  pious  and  virtuous  discipline.  I  should 
not  like  to  be  troublesome  to  you,  but  because  I  am  fully  con- 
vinced that  all  of  you  wall  be  inclined  to  render  us  this  service, 
I  have  not  hesitated  to  demand  of  you  what  will  not  put  you  to 
much  inconvenience,  and  which  of  your  own  accord  you  would 
have  granted.  I  should  like  to  discourse  with  you  and  your 
brethren  at  greater  length,  but  as  my  duty  calls  me  off,  I  defer 
that  pleasure  to  another  opportunity. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  sir  and  brother,  whom  I  venerate 
with  my  whole  heart  along  with  your  fellow-pastors.  May  the 
Lord  protect,  govern,  preserve,  and  support  you  all  even  to  the 
end.  I  add  no  salutations  from  any  one,  because  no  one  was 
aware  that  I  was  about  to  write  to  you. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

I  am  overwhelmed  with  grief  for  the  recent  death  of  our  most 
excellent  brother  Macar.'  In  him  the  church  has  lost  a  most 
faithful  pastor,  we,  a  most  affectionate  colleague,  and  I  per- 
sonally am  bereaved  of  a  most  upright  brother  and  of  almost 


'  The  minister  Macar  had  scarcely  returned  from  his  perilous  npostleship  at  Paris, 
where  be  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  the  poor,  and  to  .visiting  those  who  were  ill  of 
the  plague.  He  was  speedily  attacked  by  the  disease,  and  died  about  the  end  of 
August,  1560,  much  regretted  by  the  republic  and  the  church  of  Geneva.  (Gaberel, 
vol.  ii.  p.  lOi.) 


126  THEODORE   BEZA.  [1560. 

one  half  of  my  soul.     The  whole  city  mourns,  but  a  weight  of 
sorrow  preys  upon  the  more  serious  part  of  it. 

[Orig.  autogr. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXX.— To  Theodobe  Beza.^ 

Troubles  in   France — Faults  committed  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Reformed  party — Slug- 
gishness of  the  King  of  Navarre- 

Geneva,  Idth  September,  1560. 

As  I  suppose  that  my  letter  has  miscarried  in  which  I  signified 
to  you  what  I  am  about  to  write,  I  am  obliged  now  to  repeat  it. 
Our  Hotspur^  had  been  informed  in  time  of  the  change  in  their 
purpose,  and  I  had  previously  informed  him  that,  for  important 
reasons,  nothing  ought  to  be  attempted  by  him,  till  something 
had  been  accomplished  by  you.  Thus  by  his  rash  haste  he  has 
been  guilty  of  a  grave  fault.  Another  untoward  accident  kept 
your  letter  of  the  25th  August  nearly  four  days  on  the  road, 
through  the  negligence  of  I  know  not  what  muleteer,  who  had 
engaged  to  deliver  it  four  hours  after  it  was  put  into  his  hands. 

'  This  letter  designedly  obscure  was  written  during  the  gravest  conjunctures.  Be- 
fore Theodore  Beza  had  arrived  at  Nerac  bearing  the  instructions  of  Calvin,  the  King 
of  Navarre  and  the  Prince  of  Conde  had  conceived,  the  former  with  hesitation,  the 
latter  boldly,  projects  which  were  destined  to  terminate  in  the  momentary  insurrec- 
tion of  the  provinces  in  order  to  overthrow  the  authority  of  the  Guises.  Young 
Ferrieres,  Seigneur  of  Maligny,  entering  secretly  into  Lyons  with  1200  men,  was  to 
have  seized  on  the  fortress  by  surprise,  Paul  de  Mouvans  was  to  stir  up  Languedoc 
and  Provence,  and  Monbrun,  Dauphiny,  while  the  King  of  Navarre  setting  out  from 
Nerac  should  call  around  him  the  nobility  of  the  South  to  the  rallying  cry  at  once 
monarchical  and  religious  :  Christ  and  Capet.  This  project  failed  like  the  preceding 
ones,  in  consequence  of  the  irresoluteness  of  its  principal  chief,  and  the  want  of  con- 
cert among  the  conspirators-  Invariably  opnosed  to  every  armed  insurrection  of  the 
churches,  Calvin  had  in  vain  essayc^l  to  mouv^rate  their  ardour,  and  transform  a  jlut 
into  an  imposing  but  pacific  manifestation  of  opinion.  He  could  not,  however, 
abandon  a  cause  which  was  dear  to  him,  in  the  moment  of  danger,  and  exhorted  the 
King  of  Navarre  to  avail  himself  of  his  rights  as  the  first  prince  of  the  blood,  not  to 
withdraw  himself  from  the  authority  of  the  king,  but  to  overthrow  the  usurped  domi- 
nation of  the  Guises. 

*  In  the  text,  Fervidus  nonter — a  covert  allusion  to  the  name  of  Ferrieres  de  Maligny, 
who,  for  having  put  in  execution  too  soon  his  attempt  upon  Lj'ons,  had  received  a 
severe  check,  and  saw  himself  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  evacuating  the  place.  See 
de  Thou,  lib.  xxv.  and  Claude  de  Rubys,  Hiatoire  de  Lyon,  p.  386  and  the  followiug. 


1560.]  THEODORE    BEZA.  127 

Exhausted  by  a  sorrow  of  eight  days'  duration  I  had  tlirown 
myself  into  bed,  after  my  return  from  a  very  melancholy  expe- 
dition, for  I  had  accompanied  the  funeral  procession  of  our  most 
excellent  brother.'  I  got  up  immediately  and  wrote  to  beseech 
Hotspur,  to  take  care  to  have  transmitted  to  the  place  indicated 
in  my  letter,  an  account  of  whatever  preparations  had  been 
made,  or  to  be  the  bearer  of  it  himself.  In  the  mean  time,  to 
make  some  apology  for  his  excessive  precipitancy,  he  has  sent 
this  person  with  a  letter  whence  it  is  permitted  to  conclude  that 
he  would  not  suifer  himself  to  be  guided  by  any  sober  counsels, 
and  for  that  reason  the  messenger  himself  who  then  coincided  with 
him  in  opinion  will  give  a  much  better  account  of  the  whole 
affair.  I  have  selected  him  from  among  all,  chiefly  because  no 
one  was  better  fitted  for  surmounting  obstacles.  How  disgrace- 
fully that  foolhardy  man  came  off  who  would  listen  to  no  advice, 
I  forbear  for  the  moment  to  tell  you.  You  shall  hear  it  all 
when  we  meet.  But  now  for  fear  this  adverse  stroke  should 
take  by  surprise  our  chief  and  our  standard-bearer,  I  determined 
immediately  to  dispa,tch  some  one  to  acquaint  them  with  what 
had  happened.  There  was  another  motive  for  sending  to  them, 
viz:  that  they  might  know  how  faithfully  we  had  looked  after 
those  things,  which  we  had  promised  to  manage.  I  will  begin 
with  this  last  consideration.  Our  neighbours  had  either  broken 
faith,  or  given  way  to  cowardice,  unless  I  had  most  energetically 
recalled  them  to  their  duty.  Their  spirits  seemed  revived  by 
the  presence  of  the  person  who  to  my  reproaches  added  both 
prayers  and  threats.  Three  days  after,  we  heard  that  they  had 
again  lost  all  heart.  Another  person  succeeded  to  the  first. 
The  sum  had  already  been  completed,  but  only  because  we  be- 
came sureties  for  it.  Whether  any  adverse  blast  shall  drive 
us  from  this  course  also,  I  cannot  tell.  C3rtainly  the  transac- 
tion was  managed  with  good  faith.  You  may  assure  the  chief 
and  the  standard-bearer  of  this,  that  we  were  abundantly 
sedulous  to  accelerate  matters,  but  that  some  delay  was  oc- 
casioned by  the  sluggishness  of  others.  Then  when  your  arrival 
was  the  most  efiicacious  remedy  for  all  those  evils,  to  have  no 
word  from  you  was  productive  of  much  mischief.     For  hence  it 

'  See  p.  197,  note  1. 


128  THEODORE    BEZA.  [1560. 

happened  that  the  Individual  usurped  a  greater  degree  of  licence, 
•svhose  vain  impetuosity  was  so  suddenly  checked,  and  the  others 
who  believed  themselves  undone  wavered  in  their  duty.'  Hence 
the  disaster  which  nevertheless  ought  rather  to  whet  than  blunt 
people's  courage. 

Prom  other  quarters  I  conceive  better  hopes,  because  active 
collectors  with  instructions  from  me  having  gone  to  Macon,  the 
neighbouring  towns,  and  the  whole  of  the  maritime  coast,  for  the 
sake  of  transacting  business,  will  not  spare  their  pains.  What 
then  remains  to  be  done  but  that  our  chief  should  by  his  prompt- 
itude recruit  his  forces,  which  he  will  never  do  by  sitting  still 
and  inactive.  If  he  complains  that  he  is  unprovided  with  funds, 
he  will  find  many  persons,  each  of  whom  will  stretch  their  own 
resources  to  furnish  them.  Something  should  have  been  at- 
tempted already.  He  would  have  experienced  how  much  de- 
pends on  confidence  and  activity.  And  it  is  to  no  purpose  that 
he  deliberates  while  his  adversary  executes,  and  is  bringing  for- 
Avard  with  all  zeal,  machines  to  crush  him.  A  rumour  indeed 
has  gone  abroad  that  attempts  have  been  made  to  cajole  him  by 
deceitful  blandishments,  in  order  that  he  may  be  gained  over. 

This  does  seem  very  probable  to  me,  since  the  cause  which  he 
has  embraced  is  so  far  advanced  that  there  is  no  room  for  re- 
conciliation. But  if  our  chief  should  prove  credulous  beyond 
what  is  conceivable,  how  much  I  fear  that  he  will  soon  discover, 
and  yet  too  late,  that  these  caresses  are  poison  bedaubed  over 
Avith  honey.  And  should  we  admit  that  he  could  in  safety 
abandon  our  cause,  which  it  is  folly  to  expect,  yet  what  more 
ignoble  than  this  cowardice  to  yield  to  these  savage  monsters,  nay, 
to  present  his  face  for  them  to  spit  on  and  thus  remain  branded 
with  an  indelible  mark  of  disgrace !  And  even  should  an  enemy, 
of  unbounded  insolence,  however,  refrain  from  insults,  yet  such 
a  deserter  would  be  covered  with  everlasting  contempt,  and  had 
better  sulfer  a  thousand  deaths.  But  it  is  clear  that  should 
they  be  victorious,  they  will  not  confine  themselves  to  insults, 
but  will  trample   on  their  victim  even  unto  death.     Now  if  he 

"  Disconcerted  by  the  check  which  Maligny  had  received  at  Lyons,  Mouvans  and 
Monhrun  had  laid  down  their  arms  and  made  an  act  of  submission  to  the  lieutenant 
of  the  king. 


1560.]  THEODORE  BEZA.  129 

does  not  shi-ink  from  holding  out  his  neck  to  tlie  executioner, 
3^et  should  respect  for  the  cause  weigh  with  him — a  cause  which 
he  knows  to  be  approved  of  God  and  recommended  by  the 
suifrages  of  all  good  men.  As  we  are  unacquainted  with  your 
situation,  I  dare  not  advance  any  further  remarks,  unless  that  it 
is  necessary  for  you  to  press  on  him  this  point,  and  to  keep 
dinning  it  into  his  ears — that  it  is,  not  only,  neither  expedient, 
nor  honourable,  nor  safe,  nor  in  one  word  lawful  to  abate  any 
portion  of  diligence ;  but  that  on  the  contrary  the  most  manifest 
and  inevitable  danger,  both  of  death  and  infamy,  is  impending 
over  his  head,  should  he  loiter  even  for  a  moment.  Before 
matters  came  to  a  crisis,  I  did  not  spare  our  neighbours ;  at  the 
.  same  time  I  made  it  my  business  that  their  Avarlike  demonstra- 
tions should  be  put  doAvn.  I  saw  what  might  result  from  them. 
I  carefully  examined  the  subjects  of  their  complaints.  I  said 
to  our  friends  among  whom  was  at  that  time  he  of  whom  death 
has  bereaved  us,  "that  it  would  be  on  my  part  an  act  of  the 
highest  cruelty,'  to  expose  men  so  Avantonly  to  destruction,  be- 
cause the  auxiliary  troops  being  removed  from  thence,  I  should 
be  leading  them  forth  as  it  were  to  the  butcher."  I  turned  a 
deaf  ear  to  all  remonstrances  that  I  might  faithfully  discharge 
my  duty. 

Now  when  I  see  them  exposed  to  so  many  injuries,  a  feeling 
of  compassion  rises  up  in  my  breast,  nor  can  I  help  feeling  all 
the  bitterness  of  sorrow  if  I  see  them  abandoned.  Wherefore 
it  is  your  duty  importunately  to  assail  those  ears  that  shall  be 
too  slow  to  hear,  or  stopped  by  unworthy  obstacles.  I  wish  I 
could  join  you  to  play  a  secondary  part,  but  even  the  task  of 
stimulating  the  sluggish,  by  writing  to  them,  is  taken  out  of  my 
hands.  Do  you  then  not  only  give  publicity  to  the  contents  of 
this  letter,  but  borrow  from  our  school  sharp  arguments  to  prick 
them  on,  because  you  know  with  what  ardour  our  masters  here 
are  animated  when  necessity  demands  it.  It  has  seemed  to  us 
better,  moreover,  to  make  you  the  interpreter  of  our  wishes  than 
to  charge  the  present  messenger  with  letters  which  might  per- 
chance create  discontent.     Salute  then  most  respectfully — you 

'  There  are  here  ."cveral  words  effnced   iu  the  original  manuscript,  though  the  want 
scarcely  affects  the  sense  of  the  passage. 

17 


130  suLCER.  [1560. 

know  wliom,   and    farevv-ell,   most   upright   brother.     May  the 
Lord  stand  by  you  all,  govern,  sustain,  and  protect  you. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  6.] 


DLXXL— To  SuLCER. 

Movements  in  Italy — Causes  of  the  troubles  in  France — States  of  Fontainebleau. 

Geneva,  let  Ootoher,  1560. 
For  a  long  time  I  have  written  nothing  to  you,  my  worthy 
sir  and  respected  brother,  because  I  am  distracted  by  all  sorts 
of  affairs,  and  prolonged  diseases  take  up  a  great  part  of  my 
time.'  Besides,  in  all  parts  of  France,  the  brethren  implore 
our  assistance,  and  I  am  not  sorry  now  to  abstain  from  all 
writing  which  is  not  wrung  from  me  by  necessity,  because  I  see 
that  my  letters  are  immediately  made  public.  For  a  short  time 
ago,  when  I  had  written  to  a  friend  who  lives  in  your  city,  re- 
specting the  disturbances  in  France,  I  was  surprised  to  learn 
that  part  of  my  letter  had  been  quoted  in  the  privy  council  of 
the  king.  For  I  was  forced  to  recognize  my  words  in  which 
nothing  was  changed,  and  yet  this  single  reason  would  not  for 
all  that  prevent  me  from  writing,  (since  I  have  learned  quietly 
to  despise  both  rumours  and  hatred,)  were  it  not  that  I  do  not 
find  in  what  terms  I  could  explain  matters  so  uncertain  and 
perplexed.  How  the  Venetians  and  the  Duke  of  Mantua,  along 
with  the  Emperor,  are  disquieting  the  Pope,^  I  say  nothing ; 

'  Amid  the  sufferings  occasioned  by  the  several  complaints  which  were  soon  to  be- 
reave the  church  of  Calvin,  he  continued  to  keep  up  a  vast  correspondence,  which  he 
considered  as  one  of  his  principal  duties.  Sulcer,  in  his  answer  to  the  Reformer, 
thanked  him  in  the  following  terms  : — "Your  letter  was  to  me  exceedingly  agreeable, 
and  more  than  compensated  for  your  silence.  For  I  am  not  ignorant  of  your  most 
holy  labours,  which  I  should  by  no  means  wish  to  break  in  upon  by  desiring  you  to 
write  to  me.  Your  letter  gives  me  proof  that  the  state  of  your  health  is  not  despaired 
of,  and  that  you  still  preserve  a  recollection  of  me,  your  most  intimate  brother  in  the 
Lord."— (14  Nov.,  1660,)  vol.  112,  Library  of  Geneva. 

'  To  Pope  Paul  IV.,  the  furious  enemy  of  the  Spanish  domination  in  Italy,  had  suc- 
ceeded in  1669  Pius  IV.,  of  the  family  of  the  Medicis,  who  was  destined  to  inaugu- 
rate a  new  policy  less  hostile  to  the  two  branches  of  the  House  of  Austria. 


15(30.]  SULCER.  131 

nor,  above  all,  what  the  Florentine'  is  complotting,  whom  I  take 
to  be  the  choragus  in  this  drama,  for  though  the  duchy  of  Milan 
is  offered  as  a  reward,  yet  that  good  man  most  assuredly  in  his 
secret  heart  destines  a  good  deal  more  for  himself  than  what 
is  openly  held  out  to  Maximilian,'^ 

In  France  there  are  two  causes  of  tumultuary  movements  ;  the 
government  of  the  Guises  is  not  supportable,  and  many  cannot 
any  longer  bear  to  sec  religion  oppressed  Avith  so  much  and 
such  violent  barbarity.  The  Guises,  seeing  their  power  so  de- 
tested by  all,  have  lately  with  foolish  and  childish  pomp  feigned 
to  be  ready  to  give  an  account  of  their  measures.  The  Assem- 
bly was  very  magnificent.^  The  king  in  his  public  edicts  boasts 
that  the  princes  of  the  blood  were  present  in  it.  It  is  certain 
that  only  his  brothers  assisted  at  it,  the  elder  of  whom  is  not 
yet  ten  years  of  age  ;  unless,  perhaps,  you  count  the  Cardinal 
of  Bourbon,  the  brother  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  whose  mind 
is  more  lumpish  than  a  log,  unless  when  it  is  a  little  quickened 
by  wine.  In  what  concerns  a  regent  for  the  kingdom  they 
came  to  this  decision,  that  the  king  should  appoint  a  general 
assembly  of  the  orders  for  the  month  of  December.  This  is 
called  in  our  language  a  meeting  of  the  estates.  Hitherto  the 
Guises  have  shrunk  from  a  meeting  of  the  estates.  But  mark 
how  facetiously  they  elude  it.  It  has  been  decided  by  a  decree 
to  hold  previous  meetings  in  each  of  the  provinces  in  which  de- 
puties should  be  elected  as  the  Guises  shall  direct,  and  such 
only  as  give  clear  proofs  of  their  being  the  creatures  of  that  ill- 
fated  house.^  The  20th  January  is  fixed  upon  for  the  bishops, 
not  that  they  should  decide  upon  any  thing,  but  merely  that 
they  should  deliberate  what  may  be  expedient  to  be  laid  before 
the  general  assembly,  and  next  that  they  should  correct  abuses 

'  The  Duke  Cosmo  1.     See  in  the  following  letter  new  details  about  these  diplo- 
matic intrigues. 

'  The  son  of  the  Emperor  Ferdinand  and  King  of  the  Romans. 

^  Allusion  to  the  Assembly  of  Fontainebleau,  held  on  the  2l8t  of  August,  1560. 
See  for  further  details  the  following  letter. 

*  "  The  Guises,"  says  a  contemporary  historian,  Regnier  de  laPlanche,  "had  expressly 
enjoined  the  governors  of  provinces  to  allow  none  to  be  chosen  deputies  but  those 
whose  Catholic  principles  were  clearly  ascertained.  Above  all,  they  desired  none  but 
those  of  their  own  faction,  and  that  especial  care  should  be  taken  that  none  of  these 
seditious  and  rebellious  Huguenots  should  be  listened  to." 


132  SULCER.  [1560. 

introduced  by  Impious  persons  into  the  church ;  in  other  words, 
that  they  should  so  consolidate  the  old  tyranny  that  all  grounds 
of  controversy  being  surreptitiously  removed,  there  should  no 
longer  be  need  of  any  greater  remedy.  Meanwhile,  in  certain 
provinces  there  is  a  short  truce  to  their  cruelties,  not  that  the 
Guises  are  appeased,  but  because  they  required  a  powerful  army 
to  maintain  their  war.  Add  to  that,  the  Admiral  has  had  the 
courage  to  present  a  petition  in  the  name  of  fifty  thousand  per- 
sons, who,  in  Normandy,  demand  entire  liberty  to  call  upon 
God.  The  Guises  inveighed  bitterly  against  him.  He  obtained, 
however,  for  the  petitioners  some  relaxation  of  rigour.  The 
Bishop  of  Vienne'  spoke  with  exceeding  good  sense  on  the  man- 
ner of  healing  the  evils  of  the  church.  A  short  time  afterwards 
an  order  was  signified  to  him  to  betake  himself  home.  The 
King  of  Navarre  has  not  declared  himself,  but  the  churches  of 
Gascony  enjoy  a  certain  degree  of  repose.  Our  brother  Beza 
is  on  a  mission  to  him.  What  he  may  afterwards  determine  to 
do  I  cannot  say.  A  quantity  of  arms  was  lately  seized  at 
Lyons.  The  rumour  is  rife  about  a  conspiracy  ;  nothing,  how- 
ever, is  certain.  Here  you  have  a  confused  mass  of  informa- 
tion ;  I  wish  I  could  have  made  it  ampler  and  more  distinct. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  respected  brother.  Viret 
and  my  other  fellow  pastors  beg  me  to  send  you  their  kindest 
wishes.  God  has  taken  from  among  us  one  of  them,  distin- 
guished for  his  excellent  qualities.  We  have  all  mourned  over 
his  ashes,  and  I  more  than  others,  because  in  private  life  we 
were  intimately  united.  May  the  Lord  preserve  in  surety  you 
and  your  colleagues,  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  enrich  you 
more  and  more  with  his  gifts.  Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 

'  Marillac,  a  prelate  of  an  elevated  and  tolerating  character,  who  was  accused,  as 
well  as  Monluc,  the  Bishop  of  Valence,  of  professing  in  secret  the  Reformed  doctrines. 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  133 


DLXXII.— To  BULLINGER.' 

Intrigues  of  the  Guises  in  Germany,  and  of  the  Emperor  in  Italy — New  details  re- 
specting the  Assembly  of  Fontainebleau — Speeches  of  the  Chancellor,  and  of  the 
Bishop  of  Valence — Progress  of  the  gospel  in  France. 

Geneva,  1st  October,  1560. 

I  informed  you  some  time  ago,  respected  brother,  that  the 
letter  which  you  wrote  to  our  friend  Beza  was  delivered  to  me. 
I  also  received  the  one  you  wrote  to  myself  from  a  Belgian,  a 
neighbour  of  ours,  five  days  after  his  arrival  here.  When  I 
learned  that  he  had  received  the  letter  from  you  two  days  before 
his  departure,  and  that  it  contained  details  respecting  the  young 
man  whom  you  recommended  to  me,  (I  mean  the  young  man 
who  is  a  native  of  the  valley  of  Aosta,  and  has  run  away  from 
his  father  and  the  Duke,)  I  assure  you  I  received  this  tardy 
messenger  rather  dryly.  He  had  no  excuse  for  his  delay,  as  I 
am  so  easily  to  be  found,  since  I  preach  every  day  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  give  a  lecture  in  the  public  school  every  afternoon. 
But  I  have  got  inured  to  the  rudeness  of  that  people,  and  as 
they  border  on  my  own  birth-place  I  dare  not  speak  of  them 
too  harshly.  For  I  am  myself  a  Belgian,  too,  though  it  fol- 
lows from  our  want  of  sympathy  that  we  are  far  from  resem- 
bling one  other.  This,  of  course,  is  a  joke,  though,  in  truth, 
we  are  any  thing  but  polite.  I  now  come  to  the  subject  of  my 
letter.  What  the  French  envoy  was  going  to  do  in  Germany, 
men  of  some  sagacity  shrewdly  guessed  while  he  was  on  his 
way.  For  they  saw  that  the  pretexts  for  his  mission  were  fri- 
volous. The  only  object  the  Guises  have  in  view  is  to  throw 
every  thing  into  confusion,  that  they  may  compromise  as  many 
people  as  possible  by  their  schemes.*^     I  do  not  then  doubt  the 

^  The  correspondence  of  Bullinger  at  this  period  shows  him  to  be  singularly  atten- 
tive to  the  political  and  religious  transactions  of  France.  '*  I  entreat  you,"  wrote  he 
to  Calvin,  "that  you  would  let  me  know,  by  means  of  your  correspondents,  what  is 
going  on,  and  what  hopes  of  success  there  are  in  France.  I  expect  a  better  order 
of  things,  and  I  pray  God  to  have  pity  on  us." — Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  111. 

'  Their  intrigues  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  placing  a  Prince  of  the  Ilouse  of  Lor- 
raine on  the  throne  of  Denmark,  and  bringing  about  the  restoration  of  Catholicism 
in  that  country. 


134  BULLINGER.  [1560. 

truth  of  all  that  you  have  written  to  me  concerning  their  in- 
trigues. But  God  has  impediments  of  his  own  to  check  their 
progress.'  For  the  Emperor  wishes  to  obtain  the  Duchy  of 
Milan  for  his  son,  the  King  of  Bohemia,  that  the  latter  may  not 
be  without  a  patrimony.  He  has  married  his  two  daughters,  as 
you  know,  in  Italy,  the  one  to  the  son  of  the  Duke  of  Florence, 
the  other  to  the  Duke  of  Mantua  ;  the  latter  a  petty  dependant 
prince,  the  former  governing  the  Pope  by  his  counsels  and  influ- 
ence, and  who  has  made  himself  so  much  master  of  Tuscany 
that  all  his  neighbours,  terrified  by  his  power,  are  reduced  to 
silence.  He  is  aiming  at  higher  things.  The  Venetians,  the 
Duke  of  Ferrara,^  and  others  have  united  in  a  league.  Each 
one  consults  his  own  private  interests.  This  drama  opened 
with  an  act  of  spoliation.  Contrary  to  all  justice,  the  legiti- 
mate prince  was  stripped  of  his  Duchy  of  Camerino.  The  Pope 
restored  it.  But  because  the  Apostolic  See  suffered  by  this 
restitution,  Placentia  and  Parma  are  demanded  in  exchange 
for  it.^  You  do  not  perceive  that  these  preludes  will  terminate 
in  serious  contests ;  that  they  are  but  the  precursors  of  a  gene- 
ral council,  I  am  quite  disposed  to  believe,  nor  will  you,  I  fancy, 
say  the  contrary.  With  reference,  then,  to  what  you  wrote, 
that  we  must  wait  till  our  heavenly  Father  dissipate  their  bloody 
counsels,  I  would  have  you  remark  that  sparks  of  his  heavenly 
light  are  already  beginning  to  shine.  Though  it  behoves  us  to 
look  a  little  deeper  into  the  aspect  of  things,  and,  above  all,  to 
this  point  that  if  hitherto  we  have  been  in  a  state  of  torpor, 
God  is  now  wakening  us  up  from  our  lethargy.  Before  I  relate 
to  you  matters  enveloped  in  greater  mystery,  you  will  learn  in 
what  a  wretched  and  deplorable  state  France  is  now,  from  a 
complaint  of  which  I  send  you  a  copy  wliich  was  brought  here. 
You  will  laugh  at  my  offering  you  a  pamphlet  written  in  French, 

'  Allusion  to  the  Austrian  and  Spanish  influence  again  become  preponderant  in 
Italy.  The  Duke,  Francis  de  Guise,  general  of  the  league  formed  by  Pope  Paul  IV., 
in  1566,  had  in  vain  essayed  to  take  Naples  from  the  Spaniards. 

"  The  new  Duke  of  Ferrara,  Alphonso  II.,  needed  by  his  docility  to  make  the  Em- 
peror forget  the  part  which  his  father,  Hercules  d'Este,  had  taken  in  the  crusade 
against  the  Spaniiirds. 

'These  two  cities  formed  an  independent  duchy  under  Octavius  Farnese,  the  hus- 
band of  Margaret,  the  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  135 

but  you  will  find  about  you  translators  who  will  explain  to  you 
the  principal  points  in  it.  It  will  give  you  a  notion  of  the 
marvellous  intrigues  of  the  house  of  Guise.  Rospecting  other 
subjects  you  will  excuse  my  brevity,  for  I  should  never  have 
done  were  I  to  enter  into  details  in  so  immense  a  field  of 
matters. 

All  the  great  men  of  the  nation  were  lately  convoked  at 
Fontainebleau,  a  place  about  two  days'  journey  distant  from 
Paris.  None  of  the  princes  of  the  blood  royal  were  present, 
except  the  Cardinal  of  Bourbon,  brother  to  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, one  you  might  easily  mistake  for  a  cask  or  a  flagon,  so 
little  has  he  the  shape  of  a  human  being.  The  Guises  imagined 
that  it  would  add  greatly  to  the  pomp  of  the  assembly,  if  as 
many  as  possible  of  those  purple  robed  knights,  who  are  so 
proud  of  belonging  to  the  order  of  St.  Michael,  were  summoned 
to  attend  it.  Thirty  of  them  made  their  appearance,  though 
formerly  their  number  was  twelve.  There  the  Chancellor  took 
occasion  to  speak  in  pompous  terms  of  the  illustrious  senate  in 
which  was  vested  the  whole  authority  of  the  kingdom.  His 
exordium  was  in  a  strain  of  the  most  fulsome  adulation.  He 
then  enlarged  on  the  state  of  the  kingdom,  remarking  that  as 
it  stood  in  need  of  remedies  to  heal  its  complaints,  it  was  their 
business  to  investigate  the  cause  of  the  evils.  Here  he  brought 
his  report  to  a  close,  as  if  at  his  wit's  end  he  had  been  invoking 
a  consultation  of  state  doctors.  The  king,  by  a  preconcerted 
scheme,  asked  the  Bishop  of  Valence,  who  was  among  the  last 
of  the  counsellors  to  deliver  his  sentiments,  evidently  because 
the  Guises  wished  to  elicit  the  secret  inclinations  of  all,  and 
suddenly,  as  they  should  find  an  opportunity,  assail  them  one 
by  one.  Contrary  to  the  expectations  of  every  body,  the  Admi- 
ral arose  and  presented  to  the  king  a  petition  in  which  the 
inhabitants  of  Normandy,  who  wish  to  worship  God  in  purity, 
requested  to  have  leave  to  assemble  themselves  in  open  day,  in 
order  not  to  be  exposed  to  diverse  calumnies  on  account  of 
clandestine  or  nocturnal  meetings.  Being  questioned  how  he 
became  possessed  of  such  a  document,  he  replied  that  he  took 
an  interest  in  the  public  good,  and  was  curious  to  know  what 
the  Lutherans  wished  for  ;  that  he  would  produce,  moreover,  the 


186  BULLINGEK.  [1560. 

signatures  of  fifty  thousand  men  that  were  affixed  to  it,  if  the 
king  desired  it.  In  the  whole  assembly  but  two  persons  spoke 
with  any  degree  of  discretion — the  Admiral  and  the  Archbishop 
of  Vienne.  When  all  the  speakers  had  delivered  their  opinions, 
of  whom  the  greater  part  consisted  of  underlings,  the  Duke  of 
Guise  gave  vent  to  his  spite  with  an  insolence  that  would  not 
have  been  tolerated  elsewhere.  In  a  few  words  I  will  give  you 
a  sample  of  his  stolidity.  When  the  Admiral  had  expressed  his 
disapprobation  of  the  barbarous  custom,  not  only  of  assigning 
to  the  king  body-guards,  but  surrounding  him  with  an  army, 
declaring  that  such  an  education  was  not  worthy  of  a  nation 
like  France,  and  that  a  youthful  sovereign  should  not  be  brought 
up  to  distrust  his  subjects,  whose  affections,  on  the  contrary,  he 
ought  to  conciliate  and  foster  by  acts  of  kindness ;  that  madman 
replied  that  the  king  had  no  need  of  tutors  or  governors,  since 
he  had  been  educated  in  the  practice  of  every  virtue,  (I  quote 
his  words  to  the  letter,)  and  if,  moreover,  he  required  any  in- 
struction, his  mother  was  fully  competent  for  that  task.  He 
had  the  audacity  to  say  that  in  spite  of  what  a  thousand  coun- 
cils should  decree,  he  was  immovably  resolved  to  adhere  to  the 
institutions  of  his  ancestors.  His  brother,  the  Cardinal,  with 
greater  gravity  and  shrewdness  observed  that  it  was  idle  to  de- 
mand of  councils  any  innovation  in  doctrine,  for  it  was  impious 
to  make  those  things  which  had  proceeded  from  the  Holy  Spirit 
the  subject  of  controversy.  If  any  vices  in  conduct  existed, 
permission  should  be  granted  to  the  bishops  of  their  own  autho- 
rity to  correct  them.  The  Bishop  of  Vienne  had  provoked  him 
to  make  this  remark,  having  declared  that  it  was  a  base  and 
disgraceful  sign  of  dissoluteness  when  bishops  abandoned  their 
churches  to  frequent  the  courts  of  princes.  He  also,  in  vehe- 
ment terms,  besought  the  king  not  to  bereave  churches  of  their 
pastors  under  the  frivolous  pretext  of  the  public  good,  for  that 
hence  it  followed  as  a  consequence  that  no  one  was  restrained 
by  law  or  necessity,  but  every  one  did  whatever  his  inclination 
prompted.  You  ask,  What  resulted  from  all  this  ?  The  Bishop 
of  Vienne  betook  himself  home.  Four  or  five  days  were  spent 
in  vain  recriminations.  A  meeting  of  the  estates  is  fixed  for 
the  month  of  December.     The  bishops  are  convoked  for  the 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  137 

20th  of  January,  not  that  they  shouhl  decide  upon  any  thing, 
but  merely  tliat  they  shouhl  deliberate  upon  what  may  be  ex- 
pedient to  be  laid  before  the  general  assembly.  Hitherto  the 
Guises  have  struggled  obstinately  to  prevent  the  assembling  of 
the  estates.  Now,  having  plucked  up  courage,  they  are  devis- 
ing means  wittily  to  overreach  those  who  expect  any  relief  from 
this  measure.  For  they  have  tacked  a  clause  to  the  decree  by 
which  it  is  provided,  first,  that  each  of  the  provinces  should 
examine,  in  the  presence  of  their  governors,  what  affairs  it 
may  be  expedient  to  have  discussed  in  the  general  assembly ; 
(in  this  examination  there  will  not  be  a  shadow  of  liberty :) 
next,  that  they  should  choose  their  deputies  according  to  the 
suggestions  of  the  same  governors ;  so  that  none  will  come  up 
to  the  meeting  but  such  purchased  parasites  as  the  Guises  shall 
be  pleased  to  name.  How  frivolous,  moreover,  and  nugatory 
this  parade  of  a  council  is,  you  will  comprehend  from  the  form 
of  the  decree  which  any  of  your  friends  will  translate  for  you. 
Meanwhile,  the  truth  of  the  gospel  is  breaking  forth.  In  Nor- 
mandy our  brethren  are  preaching  in  public,  because  no  private 
house  is  capable  of  containing  an  audience  of  three  and  four 
thousand  persons.  There  is  greater  liberty  in  Poitou,  Saintonge, 
and  the  whole  of  Gascony.  Languedoc,  Provence,  and  Dau- 
phiny  possess  many  intrepid  disciples  of  Christ.  Why  the 
Cardinal  is  so  supine  he  has  himself  hinted  pretty  clearly ;  evi- 
dently it  is  that  ere  long  he  may  detect  the  imprudence  of  these 
inconsiderate  people  ;  but  the  Lord,  I  trust,  will  not  only  bring 
to  light  his  accursed  devices,  but  will  defeat  his  impious  attempts. 
The  King  of  Navarre  is  still  quiet.  He  is,  nevertheless,  an 
object  of  suspicion,  as  if  he  were  about  to  attempt  something 
important.  Thus,  when  garrisons  were  lately  placed  in  ten 
places  of  the  kingdom,  the  most  effective  for  the  purposes  of 
the  French  war  was  stationed  by  the  Guises  in  the  territory  of 
Gascony.  I  have  not  had  news  of  Beza  for  some  time,  because 
the  roads  are  blocked  up.  At  Lyons  a  quantity  of  arms  was 
seized.  There  was  then  a  great  trepidation  in  that  quarter,  and 
though  no  one  marched  against  them,  yet  they  conceived  them- 
selves to  be  in  great  danger,  and  thus  their  fears  whetted  their 
cruelty.  Some  have  been  already  hanged,  and  all  who  come 
18 


138  BULLINGER.  [1560. 

from  there  are  immediately  dragged  to  prison,  and  put  to  the 
rack  indiscriminately.  Be  sure  that  our  brother  Beza  did  not 
go  there  of  his  own  accord,  but  because  he  was  summoned  by 
a  letter  of  the  king's,  in  which  he  asked  me  politely  and  with 
the  greatest  earnestness  to  grant  him  this  highly  important 
favour.  I  thought  it  right  not  to  refuse  him,  partly  that  Beza 
might  stimulate  his  sluggishness,  and  partly  that  he  might  coun- 
teract the  turbulent  counsels  of  many.  For  I  never  approved 
of  deciding  our  cause  by  violence  and  arms.  But  as  I  can 
never  crowd  into  one  letter  the  immense  quantity  of  news  that 
yet  remain  untold,  I  shall  here  come  to  a  close.  Because  you 
made  no  difficulty  in  undertaking  the  task  of  procuring  proper 
masters  for  the  young  men  that  are  sent  from  here  to  be  edu- 
cated in  your  city,  and  also  in  seeing  that  they  were  lodged  in 
virtuous  families,  our  senate  begs  me  to  offer  you  their  warmest 
thanks  for  the  hearty  good-will  you  have  shown,  and  they  most 
willingly  pledge  themselves  to  return  the  favour,  should  an  occa- 
sion ever  present  itself.  Besides,  these  four  who  are  maintained 
at  the  public  expense,  some  others  are  sent  by  private  persons 
whom  I  desire  not  less  to  recommend  to  you.  I  have  been  en- 
treated to  do  so  in  the  name  of  three,  but  as  I  hear  that  two 
of  them  are  already  provided  with  lodgings,  I  am  very  desirous 
that  you  should  make  arrangements  for  the  third,  both  because 
his  mother  is  a  woman  of  singular  piety,  and  his  father  was  a 
dear  and  intimate  friend  of  mine.  His  name  is  Michael  Plan- 
chan.  Pardon  me,  if  yielding  to  entreaties,  I  occasion  you 
more  trouble  than  I  could  wish. 

Farewell,  most  distinguished  sir  and  my  very  honoured  bro- 
ther. You  will  present  my  best  respects  to  your  brethren,  col- 
leagues, and  other  friends.  May  the  Lord  always  keep  you  in 
safety,  direct  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  bless  your  labours. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

I  know  not  whether  I  ought  to  thank  M.  Wolf  for  Tilmann's 
book,^  translated  into  Latin,  which  he  sent  me.     For  though 

'  Tilmann  Heshusiusi,  author  of  a  pamphlet  against  Melancthon,  translated  by  Mar- 
bach  at  Strasbourg. 


1560.]  NICHOLAS   DES    QALLARS.  139 

that  wrangling  fellow  deserved  the  critic's  lash,  yet  I  was  of 
opinion  that  he  should  have  been  passed  over  with  contempt. 
[Lat.  Orig.  Autog. — Ldhrai~y  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXXIII. — To  Nicholas  des  Gallars.' 

Domestic  details — News  of  the  Churcli  and  Academy  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  Zd  October,  1560. 

You  seem  to  have  felt  a  little  hurt,  because  you  received  no 
answer  when  you  had  asked  me  for  my  advice  on  some  important 
matters.  I  fancy  you  had  already  understood  how  punctual  I 
am  in  attending  to  letters  when  once  they  have  been  delivered 
to  me.  I  immediately  wrote  back  to  you  on  the  receipt  of  yours, 
how  long  after  its  date  it  had  been  put  into  my  hands.  I  also 
endeavoured,  as  the  circumstances  required,  to  settle  the  busi- 
ness which  gave  you  so  much  uneasiness.  Though  my  letter 
was  rather  desultory,  and  I  had  been  forced  by  illness  to  dictate 
a  part  of  it,  I  was  nevertheless  unwilling  to  omit  anything 
which  might  contribute  to  relieve  your  anxiety.  I  faithfully 
executed  your  commissions.  I  wrote  to  Roche  and  exhorted 
him  to  cross  over  to  you.  There  did  not  exist  a  copy  of  what 
the  Strasburgers  had  written  about  Peter,^  and  perhaps  it  is 
better    that    that   matter  should  be  handled  rather  leniently. 

'On  his  arrival  in  London,  Nicholas  des  Gallars  saw  himself  engaged  in  difficulties 
which  paralyzed  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  in  the  congregation  of  the  foreign  Pro- 
testants. Separated  from  his  wife  and  children  whom  he  had  left  at  Geneva,  he 
suffered  at  the  same  time  from  the  inefficacy  of  his  services  and  his  solitariness. 
"  What  I  should  decide  upon  I  do  not  clearly  see.  It  is  not  my  intention  to  ahandon 
this  infant  church,  which  is  yet  far  from  heing  well  organized,  to  the  wolves  that  are 
still  gaping  to  devour  it,  nor  can  I  return  to  you  unless  there  should  he  another  pastor 
left  to  replace  me,  and  I  should  be  called  for  some  valid  reason.  I  have  not  beeu 
able  to  send  over  for  my  wife  in  the  present  doubtful  state  of  affairs,  and  because  I 
have  no  means  of  furnishing  her  with  what  she  would  require  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  her  journey.  I  cannot  easily  contemplate  this  prolonged  absence  both  from  you 
and  my  family  without  the  deepest  sorrow.  I  say  nothing  of  many  things  which  I 
must  endure  in  silence,  and  for  which  I  am  without  an  assistant  and  an  adviser." 

"  Peter  Alexandre  of  Aries,  formerly  minister  of  the  French  Church  of  Strasbourg, 
and  second  pastor  of  the  Clmrch  of  London. 


140  NICHOLAS   DES    GALLARS.  [1560. 

They  might  complain  that  those  things  -which  they  had  com- 
municated to  us  confidentially  should  have  publicity  given  to 
them ;  and  he  himself  might  raise  an  outcry  that  we  acted  with 
inhumanity  in  odiously  exhibiting  as  a  criminal  charge  against 
him  those  things  which  had  been  written  to  exculpate  him.  That 
other  manner  of  pacification  then  is  preferable,  if  for  no  other 
reason  at  least  for  this,  that  it  does  not  compromise  the  public 
tranquillity. 

But  what  surprises  us  is,  that  you  say  not  a  word  either  about 
your  stay  or  your  return.  This  is  the  more  extraordinary  be- 
cause the  letter  addressed  to  us  by  the  members  of  the  congre- 
gation conjointly  had  set  our  minds  at  rest,  for  they  return  us 
public  thanks,  and  assert  in  no  equivocal  terms  that  you  are 
their  pastor.  They  also  beg  of  us,  pledging  themselves  to  be 
responsible  for  the  payment,  to  furnish  your  wife  with  whatever 
she  may  stand  in  need  of.  That  she  might  be  emboldened  to 
ask,  I  have  let  her  know  that  she  shall  want  for  nothing. 
About  the  house  which  she  occupies,  she  has  thoughtlessly  teased 
you  with  her  complaints,  and  you  have  lent  but  too  ready  an 
ear  to  them.  Hitherto  I  had  heard  nothing  on  that  subject, 
but  now  she  has  confessed  to  me  that  she  had  talked  with  Beza 
concerning  it  a  good  while  ago.  His  answer  was  frank  and 
open ;  if  you  remained  in  England. . .  according  to  the  implied 
consent  of  the  brethren,  that  house  was  intended  for  her,  that 
she  might  be  nearer  the  school,  but  not  a  word  has  ever  been 
dropped  on  that  subject,  nor  have  they  yet  deliberated  respecting 
it,  while  matters  still  remain  in  their  present  doubtful  state. 
I  do  not  suppose  she  invented  what  she  wrote  to  you,  but  when 
we  are  over  inquisitive,  it  sometimes  happens  that  we  hear 
more  than  we  could  wish.  She  has  even  formerly  related  things 
which  I  never  heard  from  any  one.  But  if  people  keep  babbling 
this  or  that,  does  their  silly  gossip  forsooth  deserve  to  pass  the 
channel?  This  I  afiirm;  nothing  was  ever  decided  respecting 
the  house,  nor  will  be,  till  the  election  of  your  successor,  and  this 
we  have  put  ofi"  till  now.  It  is  fixed,  however,  for  to-morrow. 
But  whatever  shall  take  place,  we  will  take  care  that  she  be  not 
obliged  to  remove  before  the  winter.  She  might  even  have 
made  something  by  hiring  the  house,  had  she  not  wished  to 


1560.]  NICHOLAS   DES   GALLARS.  141 

show  herself  so  liberal  to  foreigners,  strangers,  and  even  wealthy 
people.  The  house  is  still  the  subject  of  some  lawsuits,  but  she 
hoped,  as  Beza  told  me,  that  they  would  soon  be  terminated. 

Hilaire  is  dead ;  Nicholas  and  his  wife  have  been  ill.  He  is  not 
yet  recovered,  and  his  complaint  it  appears  will  be  of  long  dura- 
tion. Diseases  have  been  raging  among  our  townsmen  since 
your  departure,  two  of  them  are  dead,  Tagaut'  and  Gaspar;  in 
fine  that  most  excellent  man  Macar  to  the  great  sorrow  of  all 
has  been  taken  from  us.  You  can  well  imagine  from  my  dis- 
position how  bitterly  I  have  felt  so  many  bereavements.  Baduel'^ 
drags  on  as  well  as  he  can.  Bernard  and  Chevalier  have  got 
rid  of  their  fever.  Henoch^  and  Morel  are  gradually  recovering 
strength.  Colic  and  inflammation  of  the  blood  and  lungs  have 
severely  tried  me.  Though  we  have  a  great  deficiency  of  pastors, 
yet  our  brethren  have  always  put  off  the  election  of  a  successor 
to  you,  till  lately  they  learned  from  the  collective  letter  of  your 
church,  that  you  have  been  retained  where  you  are.  Beza's 
absence,  besides  the  extraordinary  burden  of  lecturing  which  it 
imposes  on  me,  is  for  many  other  reasons  annoying  to  me.  I 
am  distressed  that  our  worthy  brother  should  be  incessantly 
beset  with  dangers,  and  I  see  but  little  prospect  of  his  return. 
But  what  torments  me  more  cruelly  is  the  reflection  that,  urged 
by  necessity,  we  have  not  hesitated  to  peril  the  life  of  so  singular 
a  friend  and  so  excellent  a  man.  Other  secret  griefs  I  kept 
shut  up  in  my  own  bosom. 

Farewell,  most  worthy  brother.  You  will  pardon  my  col- 
leagues for  not  writing.  As  I  had  undertaken  this  task,  they 
fancy  they  have  acquitted  themselves  of  their  duty  by  my  as- 
sistance. In  the  mean  time,  carefully  salute  all.  May  the 
Lord  always  protect,  govern,  and  sustain  you,  for  I  see  how 
laborious  a  function  you  have  to  discharge  in  directing  that 
church ;  but  God,  who  for  the  hardest  struggles  always  imparts 
sufficient  strength,  will  stand  by  you  to  the  last.     I  imagine  the 

'  John  Tagaut,  professor  of  philosophy  in  the  Academy  of  Geneva.  Bernard  taught 
Greek  in  it,  and  Chevalier,  Hebrew. 

"  Claude  Baduel,  formerly  rector  of  the  University  of  Nimes,  professor  of  mathe- 
matics at  Geneva.     He  died  there  in  1560. 

'Francis  Henoch,  originally  from  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  minister  of  the  Church 
of  Geneva.     He  was  for  some  time  almoner  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara. 


142  BULLINGER.  [1560. 

minister  Belzan  from  whom  new  disturbances  were  apprehended 
is  half  crushed,  now  that  he  has  been  stripped  of  his  false 
colours. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DLXXIV.— To   BULLINGER. 

Conspiracy  of  Lyons — Journey  of  the  King  of  Navarre — Expectation  of  grave  events 

in  France. 

Geneva,  lUh  October,  1560, 

I  am  prevented  from  writing  back  to  you  at  greater  length, 
respected  brother,  by  a  violent  headache,  which  has  not  ceased 
to  torment  me  for  the  last  two  days.  Stegner  the  Avoyer  of 
Berne  had  already  told  us  here  what  you  write  to  me  about  our 
neighbours.^  I  think  it  is  probable  that  they  will  purposely 
seize  on  this  opportunity  of  making  war,  and  will  be  driven  to 
take  this  step,  not  so  much  by  their  own  impetuosity  as  by 
foreign  impulse.  May  the  Lord  restrain  or  mitigate  their 
ferocity,  and  at  the  same  time  resist  their  perverse  designs.  I 
had  heard  that  the  King  of  France  demanded  supplies  of  money 
and  troops  from  you,  but  relying  on  your  perspicacity  I  did  not 
think  it  necessary  to  remind  you  of  the  purpose  of  such  a  de- 
mand. I  wrote  to  you  lately  respecting  the  troubles  at  Lyons. 
Certainly  something  was  agitated,  but  by  a  few.  They  wished, 
but  very  preposterously,  to  stimulate  in  this  manner  the  King 
of  Navarre.  I  who  was  aware  that  that  was  not  consonant 
with  his  plans,  and  who  knew  his  mind,  attempted  to  divert 
them  from  their  project.  But  because  they  had  proceeded 
too  far,  the  conspiracy  was  partly  detected.  The  only  thing 
criminal,  however,  which  was  discovered  in  their  conduct,  was 
that  they  wished  to  open  up  a  free  course  for  the  gospel. 
Nothing  had  been  attempted  against  the  king  or  his  government. 
But  what  the  Guises  are  aiming  at  by  this  new  petition  is  suf- 
ficiently apparent,  from  the  edict  in  which  in  the  person  of  the 
king  they  complain  that  money  and  men  are  everywhere  col- 

'  Emmanuel  Philibert,  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  Philip  11-,  master  of  Franche  Comte. 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  143 

lected  under  the  pretext  of  religion,  and  that  for  that  reason 
they  forbid  on  pain  of  death  any  one  from  furnishing  loans  to 
the  princes  and  other  great  nobles  of  the  realm;  and  to  this 
punishment  is  further  annexed  confiscation  of  property.  The 
King  of  Navarre  summoned  to  court  is  now  on  his  way  thither.' 
He  brings  his  brother  along  with  him,  of  whose  flight  you  Avill 
by  and  by  hear  something;  but  take  care  that  it  come  to  the 
ears  of  no  one  before  the  time.^  Troops  of  cavalry  are  disposed 
in  such  a  manner  up  and  down  in  France,  as  to  be  able  to  in- 
tercept the  King  of  Navarre  in  all  directions.  The  issue  is  in 
the  hands  of  God,  who  will  perchance  bring  to  nought  what  seems 
so  craftily  contrived  by  them. 

One  chief  cut  off",  they  promise  themselves  an  easy  victory 
over  all.  But  those  whom  they  style  rebels.  Guise  himself 
aptly  designated,  in  the  assembly  of  the  nobles,  as  those 
who  desire  to  have  a  different  religion.  For  when  in  the  petition 
which  the  admiral  presented,  the  subscribers  profess  that  they 
are  quiet  and  peaceable  men,  and  will  always  be  obedient  to  the 
king;  "There,"  said  he,  "are  good  and  obedient  subjects  for 
you — men  who  are  not  satisfied  with  the  established  religion, 
who  dictate  laws  to  their  sovereign,  and  many  things  of  that 
kind."  Believe  me,  I  afiirm  it  for  certain  there  is  no  danger 
of  a  riot,  because  none  will  stir,  unless  they  chance  to  make  a 
hostile  attack  on  the  King  of  Navarre,  in  the  defence  of  whom  I 
trust  many  will  put  themselves  forward.  He  has  determined  to 
recover  his  rights  in  the  council,  but  without  having  recourse  to 
arms.^     As  I  know  him  to  be  feeble  and  vacillating,  I  have  sent 


'  He  had  set  out  from  Nerac  in  the  end  of  the  month  of  September. 

'The  most  alarming  reports  were  circulated  respecting  the  intentions  of  the  court. 
The  queen  mother  had  warned  Coligny  and  the  princess  of  Condc  that  the  two 
brothers  had  been  sent  for  only  that  they  might  be  put  to  de^th.  Tavanne's  Memoirs, 
vol.  i.,  p.  289.  Nothing  but  the  energetic  attitude  of  the  King  of  Navarre  could  turn 
aside  the  danger. 

*  The  nobility  dissatisfied  everywhere  ofiTered  their  services  to  the  King  of  Navarre. 
If,  without  taking  up  arms,  he  had  advanced  resolutely  to  the  Loire,  drawing  after 
him  his  numerous  partisans,  and  presented  himself  to  the  court  as  the  first  prince  of 
the  blood,  to  claim  there  the  authority  to  which  he  was  entitled,  and  overturn  the 
government  of  the  Guises,  there  is  no  doubt  but  he  would  have  succeeded.  It  is  the 
opinion  of  a  contemporary  and  an  excellent  judge,  the  Miirechal  de  Vieilleville. 
Memoires,  p.  439, 


144  BULLINGER.  [1560. 

a  man  to  confirm  his  resolution.  For  Beza  has  disappeared,  nor 
is  it  generally  known  to  what  part  of  the  country  he  is  gone. 
Nevertheless  one  of  our  brethren  knows  when  he  may  be  ex- 
pected. An  embassy  has  been  sent  from  Spain  to  prevent  the 
meeting  of  the  National  Assembly — a  mere  sham  this,  since 
the  bishops  will  be  permitted  only  to  examine  what  may  be  ex- 
pedient to  have  laid  before  the  general  assembly.  You  know 
doubtless  what  we  should  not  have  thought  possible  that  the  in- 
habitants of  Lucerne  and  the  five  Catholic  Cantons,  and  along 
with  them  the  people  of  Soleure,  have  been  negotiating  about  a 
treaty  of  alliance  with  the  deputies  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  which 
bodes  no  good  to  us,  unless  you  should  at  last  be  touched  with 
some  compassion  for  us  and  anxiety  for  our  safety. 
[Lat.  Orig.  Autogr. — Arch,  of  Zurich.  Gal.  Sci-ipta.     Glest.  vi.  p.  52.] 


DLXXV.— To   BULLINGER. 

Alliance  of  the  Catholic  Cantons  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy — Uncertainty  of  the  news 
from  France — Dearth  at  Geneva. 

Geneva,  let  November,  1560. 

That  the  five  Catholic  Cantons  with  blinded  fury  lend  their  aid 
to  the  destruction  of  the  Helvetian  name,'  is  to  us  a  subject  of 
painful  anxiety.  Since  they  are  so  disgracefully  venal,  the 
Lord  will  cause  to  fall  on  their  own  heads,  I  hope,  what  they 
are  threatening  the  innocent  with.  There  is  still,  however, 
some  hope  of  a  pacification,  if  it  be  true  that  a  congress  has 
been  appointed  for  the  28th  of  this  month,  though  it  behoves 
your  townsmen  to  be  vigilantly  on  their  guard.  The  enemy, 
I  have  no  doubt,  thinks  suddenly  to  crush  you  as  being  unpre- 
pared. For  I  have  learned  from  the  letter  of  a  certain  indi- 
vidual that  such  designs  are  just  now  agitated  among  them. 
With  what  vigour  our  neighbours'^  will  get  themselves  ready  for 

'  Allusion  to  the  alliance  which  the  five  Catholic  Cantons  of  Swisserland  had  just 
concluded  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  Emmanuel  Philibert.  One  of  the  secret  articles 
of  the  treaty  was  the  restitution  to  Savoy  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  and  the  abandon- 
ment of  Geneva. 

'  The  Bernese  threatened  in  the  conquests  which  they  had  accomplished  twenty- 
four  years  before  by  the  sword  of  Franz  Negueli. — Hist,  de  la  Suiaae,  vol.  xii.,  p.  18. 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  145 

the  contest  in  these  conjunctures  is  not  known.  Either  they 
are  concealing  with  great  address  their  preparations,  or  they 
are  shunning  danger  by  remaining  inactive.  And  it  is  more 
desirable  they  should  hang  back  than  desert  their  allies,  as  they 
formerly  did,  in  the  middle  of  the  struggle.  We  are  still  wait- 
ing for  information  respecting  what  was  transacted  in  the  last 
congress.  In  the  meantime,  at  Dijon,  a  place  of  rendevous  has 
been  fixed  for  those  troopers  that  are  equipped  with  fire-arms, 
which  the  French  now  call  pistols,  whence  they  may,  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice,  fly  to  whatever  part  their  orders  indicate  their 
march.  They  are  about  five  hundred  in  number.  The  same 
station  has  been  named  for  horsemen  armed  cap-a-pie,  taken 
out  of  the  ordinary  cavalry.  Some  people  fancy  that  these 
preparations  have  been  got  up  in  favour  of  the  Roman  Pontiff, 
as  a  bugbear  to  frighten  you  into  subjection  to  him  ;  others, 
with  greater  probability,  conjecture  that  they  are  intended  to 
bring  destruction  upon  us.  We  have  been  warned,  but  precau- 
tions will  not  avail  us  much  unless  God  miraculously  protect  us. 
With  confidence  and  in  tranquillity  we  nevertheless  trust  that 
the  storm  will  blow  over  and  leave  us  uninjured.  In  France 
disorders  everywhere  prevail,  and  things  seem  coming  to  a  crisis. 
Where  Beza  is,  or  what  he  is  about,  I  know  not.  Of  the  King 
of  Navarre'  various  rumours  are  afloat.  My  own  opinion  is 
that  perceiving  he  would  have  to  engage  in  a  conflict  with  so 
many  troops,  he  has  retrograded.  A  civil  war  in  France  is 
then  inevitable.  The  nobility  of  Brittany,  (the  ancient  Armo- 
ricans  are  now  Britons,)  will  declare  for  him.  The  natives  of 
Poitou,  and  a  good  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Anjou,  will 
also  join  him.  From  Gascony  many  will  flock  to  his  standard. 
The  kingdom  will  be  torn  by  a  wretched  and  deplorable  anar- 
chy. The  king  is  at  present  at  Orleans,  where  the  greater 
part  of  the  municipal  magistrates  are  said  to  be  sentenced  to 
be  executed,  which  I  can  scarcely  be  brought  to  believe.^     There 

'  The  King  of  Navarre  had  arrived  at  the  court  on  the  31st  of  October,  after  a  jour- 
ney full  of  delays  and  hesitations,  in  which  he  neither  knew  how  to  answer  to  the 
expectations  of  his  partisans,  nor  how  to  disconcert  his  enemies.  Once  arrived  at 
Orleans,  he  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  Guises. 

'The  inhaHjtants  of  the  town  had  been  disarmed,  as  being  suspected  of  an  incli- 
nation to  the  religious  Reform,  and  uf  hatred  towards  the  domination  of  the  Guises. 

19 


146  STURM.  [1560. 

is,  indeed,  no  appearance  of  an  insurrection,  but  the  ungodly 
keep  up  a  turmoil,  either  because  they  are  really  in  trepida- 
tion, when  no  man  pursiietJi,  or  rather  because  they  feign  to  be 
alarmed,  that  they  may  throw  every  thing  into  confusion. 

I  would  have  written  to  you  at  greater  length  respecting  the 
troubles  in  France,  if  I  had  been  informed  in  time  of  the  de- 
parture of  our  brother.  But  we  happened  to  be  in  the  consis- 
tory when  he  came  to  my  house ;  so  he  found  no  one  to  speak 
to.  Returning  after  supper  I,  at  last,  learned  that  he  was  to 
set  oif  on  the  following  morning.  My  letter  would  have  been 
finished,  but  as  I  expected  from  day  to  day  that  something  new 
would  fall  out,  and  furnish  me  with  fresh  matter,  I  purposely 
delayed  to  terminate  it.  About  Tilmann,'  I  have  as  yet  de- 
cided nothing.  I  will  write  to  you  on  the  first  opportunity 
what  is  most  advisable  to  be  done.  The  afiair,  moreover,  does 
not  require  us  to  be  in  any  hurry. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  respected  brother.  I 
beg  you  to  present  my  best  respects  to  your  colleague,  and  to 
all  your  family.  I  write  these  words,  though  I  have  not  yet 
seen  the  brother  who  is  to  be  the  bearer  of  them.  I  could  have 
wished  that  greater  results  had  followed  from  your  recommenda- 
tion and  that  of  M.  Peter  Martyr.  You  yourself,  indeed,  partly 
experienced  how  excessive  the  dearth  of  provisions  is  here, 
and  the  Duke  of  Savoy  is  determined  to  starve  us  to  death  by 
cutting  us  off  from  all  supplies.  My  colleagues  most  cordially 
salute  you.  Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Autog. — Arch,  of  Zurich. —  Gallicana  Scripta.     Sect,  vi.,  p.  48.] 


DLXXVI.— To  Sturm. 

Mission  of  Hotman  and  Beza  to  the  King  of  Navarre — Apathy  of  that  prince. 

Geneva,  bth  November,  1560. 

It  happens  very  unseasonably  that  for  the  last  twenty  days 
no  one  has  left  this  city  to  go  to  Strasbourg,  of  whose  depar- 

'  See  note,  p.  138. 


1560.]  STURM.  147 

ture  I  could  get  any  information,  though  I  made  the  most  dili- 
gent inquiries.  For  Holbrac,  the  pastor  of  our  French  Church, 
in  one  of  his  letters  had  caused  us  some  uneasiness  about  Ilot- 
man,  for  he  wrote  that  the  rector  of  the  school  and  all  of  you 
were  offended  at  his  absence,  especially  because  he  had  neither 
communicated  to  you  the  motive  for  his  departure,'  nor  sent 
you  any  excuse  for  absenting  himself  so  long.  I  know  not 
whether  you  were  acquainted  with  his  expedition.  From  my- 
self and  Beza  he  wished  to  have  it  kept  such  a  secret  that  when 
he  imparted  it  to  an  individual  who  has  the  reputation  of  being 
a  blab,  it  was  only  after  he  had  bound  the  person  in  question 
by  an  oath  not  to  say  a  word  on  the  subject  among  any  of  us. 
A  little  later  I  learned  that  he  had  been  seen  at  the  court  of 
the  King  of  Navarre.  From  there,  at  last,  he  wrote  to  me,  but 
it  was  after  an  interval  of  a  month  that  I  received  his  letter. 
Now,  as  I  myself  have  no  difficulty  in  tolerating  these  fooleries, 
so  I  wish  that  they  could  be  indulgently  overlooked  by  others. 
It  will  be  but  what  we  expect,  if  your  prudence  and  moderation 
interpose  your  good  offices  to  prevent  any  harsher  measures  from 
being  adopted  against  him,  while  the  cause  of  his  absence  is  yet 
imknown.  But  I  am  so  convinced  that  you  will  do  so,  that  I  deem 
any  entreaties  and  exhortation  to  that  effect  quite  superfluous. 

His  letter  had  lain  by  me  seven  days  waiting  for  a  bearer, 
when,  contrary  to  our  hopes,  Beza  was  restored  to  us,  having 
escaped,  as  it  were,  by  a  miracle  from  the  greatest  dangers. 
From  him  I  learned  that,  unless  he  meet  with  some  accident  on 
the  road,  Hotman  will  be  among  you  before  the  arrival  of  this 
letter.  I  need  not  say  a  word,  then,  of  the  sluggishness  of  that 
tortoise,^  since  he  shut  his  ears  against  all  persuasion,  and  re- 
pudiated the  services  of  a  numerous  nobility  all  entirely  devoted 
to  him.  Let  him  work  his  own  ruin,  since  all  men  know  that 
he  deserves  a  disgraceful  end.^     Nor  do  I  feel  much  compassion 

'  Hotman  had  gone,  it  appears,  without  the  authorization  of  the  magistrates  of 
Strasbourg  to  visit  the  King  of  Navarre,  in  order  to  stimulate  his  ardour.  His 
efforts,  as  well  as  those  of  Beza,  had  as  jet  been  quite  ineffectual. 

'  Allusion  to  the  King  of  Navarre. 

*  He  had  scarcely  arrived  at  Orleans  when  be  was  deprived  of  his  liberty,  whilst 
the  prince  of  Conde,  his  brother,  was  arrested  by  an  order  of  the  king,  and  saw  a 
process  commenced  which  was  destined  to  end,  so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  in  a  sen- 
tence of  death. 


148  BULLINGER.  [1560. 

even  for  his  brother  whom  I  had  hitherto  judged  to  be  quite 
another  sort  of  man.  But  what  will  become  of  the  unfortunate 
churches  which  they  have  ruined  by  their  inconstancy?  It  is 
this  anxious  concern  which  fills  me  with  anguish.  I  trust,  how- 
ever, that  God,  in  his  usual  way,  will  provide  better  for  his 
children.  I  forbear  to  mention  how  much  the  rasher  spirits 
have  injured  our  cause  by  their  silly  attempts.  Assuredly  the 
effects  of  their  ill-timed  activity  have  given  the  death  blow  to 
our  hopes  ;  and  now  the  whole  fury  of  the  enemy  will  fall  on  this 
hapless  and  unoffending  city.  Our  only  consolation  lies  in  the 
protection  of  God,  which,  with  an  entire  confidence,  we  hope 
will  be  extended  to  us. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  and  ever  honoured  sir. 
\Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXXVII.— To   BULLINGER. 

TJnsucce?sful  issue  of  Beza's  mission  to  the  King  of  Navarre- Scruples  respecting  the 
communication  of  Melancthon's  letter — Intolerance  of  the  German  Theologians. 

Geneva,  Ath  December,  1560. 

I  made  a  brief  reply  to  your  last  letter,  honoured  brother, 
because  our  most  excellent  friend,  John  Liner,  came  to  me 
when  exhausted  with  a  multiplicity  of  cares  I  was  sitting  down 
to  supper,  and  told  me  that  he  was  urged  by  his  companions  to 
take  leave  of  us  the  following  day.  Our  brother  Beza  will 
touch  upon  the  principal  points  of  his  expedition.  Those  whom 
we  wished  to  save  would  listen  to  no  counsels,  though,  indeed, 
we  took  all  this  trouble,  not  so  much  for  their  sake  as  for  that 
of  the  church.  The.  King  of  Navarre,  as  I  wrote  to  you,  had 
of  his  own  accord  implored  ray  assistance,  and  begged  in  a  very 
courteous  manner  that  Beza  should  be  sent  to  him.  If  he  had 
met  with  a  refusal,  what  clamours  would  have  been  raised  by 
everybody,  that  it  was  all  our  fault,  if  things  had  turned  out 
unfortunately  !  We  should  have  been  reproached,  not  only  with 
timidity,  but  with  perfidiousness  and  cruelty.  Beza  accom- 
plished every  thing  which  his  duty  required  of  him,  not  only 


1560.]  BULLINGER.  149 

"with  fidelity  but  incredible  constancy.  A  hundred  times  they 
changed  their  resolutions.  Finally,  that  fell  out,  which  is  now 
a  secret  to  nobody,  that  the  King  of  Navarre  and  his  brother 
were  resolved  to  rush  on  their  ruin.'  If  our  advice  had  been 
attended  to,  without  a  drop  of  blood  being  shed,  they  would 
have  effected  their  purpose.  This  was  what  we  always  aimed 
at.  Now  everybody  is  plunged  in  despair,  because  the  soldiery 
are  everywhere  let  loose,  as  in  a  conquered  country.  And  yet 
our  neighbours,^  who  blew  the  flames  of  sedition,  now  cast  all 
the  blame  on  us.     But  I  will  pass  them  by  for  the  present, 

I  cannot,  for  sundry  reasons,  comply  with  your  demand  to 
have  sent  to  you  those  letters  of  Philip's,^  in  which  he  undis- 
guisedly  professes  himself  to  be  of  our  opinion.  They  are  not 
numerous,  and  are  written  in  such  a  spirit  that  you  yourself 
will  perceive  that  they  contain  things  which  he  poured  confi- 
dentially into  my  bosom,  but  which  would  afford  matter  of  ridi- 
cule to  certain,  that  is,  to  unfriendly  persons;  to  others,  again, 
who  were  less  intimately  acquainted  with  him,  they  would 
hardly  be  intelligible.  Some  consideration  for  the  memory  of 
the  dead  should  also  have  weight  with  us,  which  would  certainly 
suffer  by  the  revelation  of  some  things  which  he  wrote  to  me. 
Mixed  up  with  them  are  others  which  it  would  certainly  do  me 
honour  to  have  made  public,  but  they  would  be  obnoxious  at  the 
same  time  to  the  malicious  carpings  of  Flaccius,  and  such  like 
fellows.  And  that  reminds  me  that  Avhen  your  letter  was  deli- 
vered to  me  I  had  already  dispatched  one-half  of  my  reply  to 
Heshusius.  In  it  I  determined  to  confute  him,  not  so  much  by 
dispassionate  argument  as  by  an  irrepressible  burst  of  indigna- 
tion. His  baseness  is  so  intolerable  that  it  might  well  call  for 
a  lapidation,''     We  are  very  sorry  to  learn  that  the  population 

'  The  Prince  of  Conde,  arrested  by  the  king's  order,  turned  towards  the  Cardinal 
de  Bourbon,  and  addressed  him  in  the  following  words :  "  Sir,  with  your  fine  pro- 
mises you  have  delivered  your  brother  over  to  death."  He  then  repented,  no  doubt, 
but  too  late,  to  have  lent  a  deaf  ear  to  Calvin's  advice,  and  surrendered  himself  to 
the  fury  of  his  enemies. 

"  The  conspirators  of  Lyons. 

•  See  note,  p.        , 

■•  The  names  of  Flaccius,  Heshusius,  and  Westphal,  recall  to  our  minds  whatever  was 
virulent  in  the  intolerance  of  the  Sacramentarians.  In  the  eyes  of  these  men,  Zwin- 
gli,  BuUinger,  and  Calvin  were  "  Anabaptists  and  disciples  of  Servetus." 


150  suLCER.  [1560. 

of  Glaris  is  still  kept  in  suspense.^  But  Moab,  in  his  pride, 
■will  dash  himself  to  pieces,  and  beyond  all  doubt,  God  is  driv- 
ing headlong  these  Cyclops,  that  while  they  plot  mischief  against 
others  they  may  compass  their  own  destruction.  Let  them  fall 
into  their  own  snares,  but  let  us  stand  firm  on  our  own  founda- 
tion. I  abstain  from  writing  any  thing  about  the  troubles  in 
France,  lest  I  should  give  uncertain  intelligence.  Ere  long 
you  will  learn  something. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  and  honoured  brother.  Best 
wishes  for  the  health  of  M.  Peter  Martyr,  M.  Gualter,  and  your 
other  fellow  pastors.  May  the  Lord  protect,  govern,  and  bless 
you  all.  We  are  in  such  jeopardy  every  moment  that  many 
despair,  many  are  anxious,  and  others  laugh.  We,  therefore, 
commend  ourselves  to  your  prayers. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Autog. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  6.] 


DLXXVIIL— To  SuLCER. 

The  sending  of  a  Pastor  to  the  Church  of  St.  Marie  aux  Mines — The  arrival  of  the 
King  of  Navarre  at  the  court — Arrestation  of  the  Prince  of  Conde, 

Geneva,  Wth  December,  1660. 

To  us,  also,  the  news  of  the  death  of  our  most  excellent  bro- 
ther, Peter  Marbusius,^  was  very  afflicting.  His  integrity  and 
sincere  zeal  had  been  demonstrated  by  undoubted  proofs.  His 
like  is  not  everywhere  to  be  found ;  for,  though  with  too  much 
eagerness  many  thrust  themselves  into  the  ministry,  yet  few 
possess  that  talent  which  warrants  their  confidence,  and  still 
more  rare  are  these  virtues,  that  piety,  ardent  zeal,  and  constancy 
which  are  nevertheless  especially  necessary  to  render  men  fit- 
ting ministers.  But  God,  having  compassion  on  that  little 
church,  has  provided  to  our  hands  a  successor  who  will  alleviate 
their  affliction  for  the  death  of  their  pastor,  because  in  no  re- 

'  The  Catholic  cantons  refused  to  maintain  Glaris  in  the  confederation,  unless  mass 
was  re-established  in  four  parishes  of  this  country.  This  quarrel  was  not  appeased 
till  the  3d  July,  1564,  by  mutual  concessions  between  the  two  contending  pnrties. 

*  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Sainte  Marie  aux  Mines  in  the  Comte  of  Montebelliard. 


1560.]  SULCER.  151 

spect  will  he  be  found,  we  hope,  inferior  to  his  predecessor ;  for 
besides  his  other  gifts  we  have  always  remarked  in  him  a  singu- 
lar simplicity  and  probity.  I  am,  therefore,  perfectly  confident 
that  he  will  prove  to  your  German  pastor  a  no  less  suitable  and 
welcome  than  faithful  fellow-workman ;  and  as  far  as  I  can  dis- 
cover from  what  the  latter  has  written  to  me,  he,  in  his  turn,  will 
hold  out  a  helping  hand  to  his  new  brother,  that  with  pious  and 
holy  concord  they  may  vigorously  ply  their  task  of  advancing 
the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Not  very  long  ago  I  received  from 
you  a  couple  of  letters.  I  was  about  to  send  an  answer  to 
them  by  your  countryman,  Oswald,  the  bearer  of  the  former, 
but  when  in  passing  by  here  he  supped  very  merrily  with  us, 
he  had  the  misfortune  two  days  afterwards  to  break  his  leg 
while  on  his  journey. 

Respecting  affairs  in  France,  1  have  nothing  but  this  to  Avrite 
to  you :  the  King  of  Navarre,  after  we  had  conceived  the  high- 
est hopes  of  his  magnanimity  and  perseverance,  suddenly  chang- 
ing his  resolution,  set  out  for  the  court.  Immediately  after  his 
arrival  his  brother  was  arrested.  He  always  warmly  approved 
of  my  counsels,  and  those  of  Beza,  which  were  certainly  both 
safe  and  not  less  consistent  with  his  dignity  than  conducive 
to  his  own  advantage  and  the  welfare  of  the  church ;  for  it  was 
always  our  wish  to  secure  his  elevation  as  well  as  to  guard 
against  the  effusion  of  even  one  drop  of  blood.  And  our  plans 
had  been  so  well  laid,  that,  without  violence  or  tumult,  he  would 
have  triumphed  over  all  his  adversaries.  But,  as  he  is  natu- 
rally of  a  weak  and  pusillanimous  disposition,  he  was  partly 
deceived  by  fallacious  promises,  and  partly  he  imposed  on  him- 
self; for  he  never  apprehended  what  was  clear  to  every  one, 
that  the  Guises  would  venture  to  lay  violent  hands  on  his  bro- 
ther, but  no  sooner  had  they  carried  their  audacity  to  this  pitch 
than  their  insolence  increased,  for  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  ex- 
press with  what  violence  they  give  loose  to  their  outrages  in 
the   very  bosom  of  France.'      And  now  when  nearly  all  men 

'  The  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  had  just  issued  the  most  severe  orders  ever.vwhero 
against  the  Reformed.  He  enjoined  the  governors  of  provinces  "to  chastise  without 
pity  the  madmen  who  cause  so  much  scandal  against  the  honour  of  God,  and  to  keep 
a  stiff  hand  in  punishing  those  fine  preachers,  that  people  might  hear  no  more  of 
them."— Nov.,  1560,     MSS.,  Colbert,  Library  of  Parirf. 


152  STURM.  [1560. 

were  struck  with  consternation,  and  the  greater  part,  as  it  were 
paralyzed  by  so  impetuous  a  torrent  of  fury,  behold  again,  con- 
trary to  our  expectations,  and  all  of  a  sudden,  the  hand  of  God 
has  revealed  itself.  For  the  death  of  the  young  king,'  of  which 
the  report  is  no  doubt  spread  about  among  you,  also  must  neces- 
sarily produce  a  notable  change  in  every  thing. 

Farewell,  distinguished  sir  and  honoured  brother.  May  the 
Lord  always  stand  by  you,  govern  and  protect  you,  and  enrich 
you  daily  with  his  gifts.  My  colleagues,  especially  Viret  and 
Beza,  cordially  salute  you.  I  desire  you,  in  my  name,  to  sa- 
lute yours.  Yours, 

John  Calvix. 

\^Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  Z>.] 


DLXXIX.— To  Sturm. 

Death  of  King  Francis  II — Inconsiderate  ardour  of  the  Reformed — Moderating  action 

of  Calvin. 

Geneva,  16fA  December,  1560. 

Did  you  ever  read  or  hear  of  anything  more  opportune  than 
the  death  of  the  king?  The  evils  had  reached  an  extremity  for 
which  there  was  no  remedy,  when  all  of  a  sudden  God  shows 
himself  from  heaven.  He  who  pierced  the  eye  of  the  father, 
has  now  struck  the  ear  of  the  son.^     My  only  apprehension  is 

'  See  the  following  letter. 

"The  young  King  Francis  II.  died  (5th  December)  of  an  abscess  in  the  ear,  as  his 
father  had  from  a  splinter  of  Montgomery's  lance  that  entered  his  eye.  This  unex- 
pected event,  which  put  a  term  to  the  most  cruel  persecution,  was  considered  by  the 
Reformed  as  a  judgment  of  God,  and  the  sentiment  expressed  by  Calvin,  is  likewise 
developed  in  some  verses  of  Theodore  Beza  : 

Tuque,  Henrice,  mails  dum  consultoribus  utens 

Sitis  piorum  sanguinem, 
Ipse  tuo  vecors  inopina  caede  peremptus 

Terram  imbuisti  sanguine. 

Henrici  deinceps  sectans  vestigia  patris 

Franciscus,  infelix  puer, 
Clementem  Christum  surda  dum  negligit  aure 

Aure  putrefacta  corruit. 


1560.]  STURM.  153 

lest  some  persons  in  the  excess  of  their  triumph  defeat  the  hopes 
of  an  amelioration  in  our  condition.  For  one  can  hardly  believe 
liow  inconsiderately  many  people  exult,  nay,  wanton  in  their 
joy.  They  wish  to  transform  the  whole  world  in  an  instant, 
and  because  I  do  not  countenance  their  folly  they  tax  me  with 
supineness.  But  to  me  it  is  enough  that  God  approves  of  my 
diligence,  and  even  more  than  enough  to  have  in  my  favour  the 
testimony  of  impartial  and  moderate  men:  these  are  not  in  a 
majority  it  is  true,  but  I  prefer  their  calm  judgments  to  the 
noisy  outcries  of  the  multitude.  They  would  wish  me  to  act 
along  with  the  King  of  Navarre  in  his  turbulent  projects,  as  if 
indeed,  supposing  him  to  be  the  most  sagacious  and  vigorous  of 
mortals,  it  was  in  his  power  to  grant  what  they  so  preposterously 
demand.  I  on  the  contrary  am  so  opposed  to  this  precipitancy 
that  it  gave  me  no  small  accession  of  joy  to  learn  that  his 
brother  was  unwilling  to  quit  his  prison.  I  had  already  pre- 
viously given  my  advice  to  such  an  effect,  so  that  I  rejoice  the 
more  heartily,  that  what  I  deemed  the  most  salutary  proceeding 
has  spontaneously  suggested  itself  to  their  minds.  And  cer- 
tainly it  will  be  a  suitable  and  compendious  method  of  crushing 
the  enemy,  if  the  victor  retire  after  the  justice  of  his  cause  has 
been  recognized;  for  this  being  accomplished  they  must  neces- 
sarily be  condemned.     To  these  considerations  add  this:   that 

Versuti,  fatui,  surdi,  haee  spectacula,  reges 
Vel  sapere  vel  mori  jubent. 

(Arch,  of  Cassel.) 

Tool  of  bad  men,  Henry,  thy  thirst  of  blood 

Fit  retribution  found, 
From  thy  pierced  eyeball  gushed  a  purple  flood 

Which  crimsoned  all  the  ground. 

Following  thy  father  in  his  mad  career, 

Francis,  unhappy  youth, 
Thou  felt'st  God's  arrow  cleave  thy  guilty  ear 

Fast  closed  against  God's  truth. 

Ye  crafty,  foolish,  dull-eared  kings  to  you 

These  awful  warnings  cry. 
Or  now  prepare  your  evil  deeds  to  rue. 

Or  in  your  blindness  die. 

20 


154  THE   MINISTERS    OF   PARJS.  [1560. 

all  the  godly  will  not  be  re-instated  in  their  rights  without 
creating  a  certain  prejudice.'  Already  because  the  crafty  knave, 
who  is  by  no  means  a  friend  to  piety,  will  have  to  be  dragged 
in  to  take  a  part  in  the  business,  and  because  we  cannot  dis- 
pense with  him — the  progress  will  be  slower.  Therefore  in  so 
perplexed  a  state  of  affairs,  it  is  desirable  that  people  in  the  be- 
ginning should  content  themselves  with  obtaining  for  those  who 
have  been  exiled  from  their  homes  and  stripped  of  their 
property,  a  restoration  to  their  primitive  condition ;  their  next 
object  should  be  to  secure  liberty  to  the  pious  worshippers  of 
God  to  abstain  from  all  pollutions  and  to  hold  private  assemblies 
to  adore  God.  Should  all  acts  of  cruelty  cease  and  fear  of  peril 
be  removed,  a  wonderful  revolution  will  take  place  in  a  short 
time.  But  I  cannot  persuade  everybody  of  this.  The  greater 
part  rush  on  with  turbulent  impetuosity.  At  the  same  time, 
however,  just  as  if  the  King  of  Navarre  had  instructed  me  re- 
specting his  intentions,  I  will  go  on,  as  I  have  begun,  stimu- 
lating them  to  be  of  his  party.  We  are  not  yet  prepared  for 
the  measure  which  you  thought  should  be  attempted. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  and  respected  sir.  May  the 
Lord  always  stand  by  you  and  enrich  you  with  all  blessings.  I 
beg  you  to  present  my  respects  to  all  friends. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXXX. — To  THE  Ministers  of  Paris.^ 

Counsels  respecting  his  conduct  addressed  to  the  King  of  Navarre. 

Geneva,  December,  1560. 

To  let  the  King  know  that  three  points  are  especially  to  be 
examined :  First,  that  the  liberation  of  the  prisoner  do  not  take 

'  Sturm  on  this  point  shared  the  apprehensions  of  Calvin  :  "Even  if  there  was  the 
most  certain  prospect  of  establishing  the  gospel  in  France,  nevertheless  that  kingdom 
will  never  enjoy  an  uninterrupted  tranquillity." 

"Without  an  address  or  date — December  1560.  This  memorial  dictated  by  Calvin 
and  containing  the  expression  of  the  views  and  hopes  of  the  Reformed  party  on  the 
deukb  of  the  young  king,  Francis  II.,  was  destined  for  the  King  of  Navarre.     The  eyes 


1560.]  THE   MINISTERS    OF    PARIS.  155 

place  before  his  sentence,  and  the  whole  process  be  thoroughly 
revised,'  that  afterwards  there  may  remain  no  spot  or  blame  on 
his  character,  which  is  a  thing  Avhich  will  contribute  to  his  per- 
sonal satisfaction,  and  prevent  him  from  being  again  troubled 
or  molested  in  time  to  come,  if  any  opportunities  of  offering  him 
such  molestation  should  occur.  For  by  this  means  a  door  will 
be  shut  against  all  future  annoyance.  It  will  also  have  for  con- 
sequence the  relief  of  the  other  prisoners  and  a  good  settlement 
of  the  whole  cause.  Without  this  we  should  be  continually 
obliged  to  begin  again.  Now  the  said  king  can  see  that  this 
may  be  done  without  either  danger  or  difficulty,  as  soon  as  the 
cause  shall  be  revised  before  competent  judges,  such  as  you 
must  now  have,  and  of  whom  we  hope  you  have  already  a  sufficient 
number  to  begin  with. 

The  second  point  is  the  principal  one,  because  on  it  every- 
thing depends.  It  is  to  establish  a  council  of  regency.  In  this 
affair,  if  the  king  does  not  show  a  great  deal  of  firmness  at  the 
very  outset,  there  is  danger  that  his  fault  may  be  very  difficult 
to  repair.  To  consent  that  a  widow,  a  foreigner  and  an  Italian 
woman,  should  have  the  principal  power,  would  not  only  turn 
out  very  much  to  his  own  discredit,  but  would  prove  so  prejudicial 
to  the  crown  that  he  would  be  everlastingly  blamed  for  such  re- 
missness. To  grant  her  as  many  honours  as  possible  will  not 
hinder  him  from  retaining  the  highest  for  himself.  But  however 
he  may  act  in  that  respect,  it  is  above  all  necessary  to  insist  on 
establishing  a  council  which  can  only  be  done  by  the  Estates, 
and  the  said  king  is  well  aware  that  it  would  not  be  prudent  to 
go  about  the  business  in  any  other  manner,  and  even  if  the 
council  could  be  well  established  just  now  without  their  concur- 
rence, still  the  precedent  would  be  a  bad  one. 

Now  inasmuch  as  the  Estates  which  had  been  convoked  have 


of  all  were  then  fixed  on  this  prince,  and  the  minds  of  all  were  in  suspense.  To  con- 
voke in  haste  the  Estates  General,  to  appoint  a  council  of  regency  from  which  Catherine 
of  Medicis  should  bo  excluded,  to  bring  the  Guises  to  a  trial,  to  establish  in  fine 
a  moderate  religious  liberty — such  were  the  counsels  addressed  to  the  king  by 
Calvin. 

'The  Prince  of  Conde,  condemned  to  death  on  the  26th  November,  15(50,  and  de- 
clared iunuccnt  by  a  sentence  of  the  Parliament,  on  the  13th  June,  ISfil. 


156  THE    MINISTERS    OF   PARIS.  [1560. 

no  commission  to  undertake  this  business,'  it  would  be  necessary 
in  the  form  of  an  amendment  to  convoke  them  anew,  for  some 
term  not  too  distant,  and  in  the  mean  time  by  some  provisional 
measure  to  estabhsh  a  temporary  government  in  which  it  is  very 
possible  there  will  be  disputes  and  opposition,  when  we  reflect 
that  the  adverse  party  to  maintain  themselves  in  power  will 
allege  things  which  are  indeed  already  laid  before  the  board. 
But  this  point  must  be  insisted  on,  viz:  that  those  possessing 
rights  cannot  be  deprived  of  them  without  an  examination  of 
the  cause.  And  having  secured  some  moderate  and  tolerable 
measure  of  a  provisional  kind,  it  will  be  sure  to  be  confirmed ; 
for  the  Estates  will  make  no  difiiculty  in  doing  what  is  desirable 
according  to  reason  and  equity. 

There  is  one  evil  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  remedy  all  at 
once,  that  is,  to  cashier  those  who  have  had  so  much  vogue.^  It 
would  in  that  case  be  necessary  to  deliberate,  whether  it  will  be 
better,  to  assail  them  vigorously  at  once  and  without  any  delay, 
or  to  put  oif  the  attack,  till  criminal  proceedings  can  be  instituted 
against  them.  Were  it  possible,  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to 
make  them  keep  watch  by  the  body  of  the  defunct,  as  they 
themselves  made  others  perform  the  same  ceremony.^  But 
whatever  is  done,  unless  they  are  degraded  upon  solid  and  clearly 
ascertained  grounds,  they  will  have  leisure  to  strengthen  them- 
selves; the  best  method  of  proceeding  then  seems  to  be,  to  watch 
narrowly  all  their  motions,  till  it  be  possible  to  handle  them  as 
they  have  deserved.  Remark,  moreover,  that  if  they  have  even 
an  appearance  of  influence  they  will  avail  themselves  of  it  to 
intrigue  and  practise  mischief;  so  that  if  you  would  prevent 
them  from  doing  evil,  you  must  keep  a  tight  bridle  over  them ; 

'The  Estates  General,  convoked  on  the  10th  December  at  Orleans,  had  but  a  re- 
stricted commission  relating  to  religious  questions.     De  Thou,  lib.  xxv. 

""When  the  partisans  of  Guise,"  says  Beza,  "knew  that  they  had  nothing  further 
to  hope  for,  they  went  and  barricaded  themselves  in  their  houses,  a  prey  to  terror, 
till  they  were  assured  by  the  queen  mother  and  the  King  of  Navarre,  that  no  barm 
should  be  done  them."     HUt.  Ecel.  vol.  i.  p.  460. 

'The  obsequies  of  the  king  were  performed  without  pomp,  and  in  a  manner  that 
but  ill  corresponded  to  the  royal  dignity.  The  Sieurs  of  Lansac  and  de  la  Brosse  ac- 
companied his  body  to  St.  Denis,  while  the  Guises  apologized  for  their  absence  by 
alleging  the  necessity  they  were  under  of  watching  over  their  niece  Mary  Stuart. 
Hist,  Eccl.  vol.  i.  p.  403.     De  Thou,  lib.  xxvi. 


1560,]  THE   MINISTERS   OF    PARIS.  157 

by  no  means  allow  them  a  long  term  to  fortify  their  power,  but 
strive  to  get  the  start  of  them.  If  it  were  possible,  that  their 
trial  could  be  got  up  before  the  Estates  will  be  convoked  for  the 
second  time,  nothing  could  be  more  desirable. 

The  third  point  is  concerning  religion  ;  and  here  all  that  is  to 
be  desired  is  that  the  liberty  of  presenting  petitions  on  that 
subject,  which  was  accorded  by  the  first  edict,  should  still  be 
maintained.  True  it  is,  the  edict  was  changed,  and  the  mouths 
of  the  faithful  shut,  so  that  they  durst  not  breathe  a  syllable 
about  such  matters.  But  because  this  change  was  brought 
about  by  violence,  and  was  contrary  to  the  honour  of  the  king, 
it  seems  highly  probable  that  such  a  liberty  will  be  permitted 
without  any  difficulty.  Now,  if  petitions  are  received,  the  least 
thing  surely  we  can  expect  from  them  is  that  they  will  procure 
a  bare  provision,  not  very  cordially  granted  perhaps,  by  which 
an  end  will  be  put  to  persecutions  exercised  against  those  who 
shall  not  seek  to  breed  riots,  or  extort  any  thing  by  violence. 
For  it  will  be  quite  enough  that  those  who  cannot  with  a  safe 
conscience  go  to  mass  have  permission  to  stay  aAvay  from  it ; 
and  to  secure  such  persons  from  being  denounced  as  void  of  re- 
ligion, that  they  shall  be  allowed  to  assemble  themselves  to 
pray  to  God,  and  hear  his  word  with  express  prohibitions  and 
interdiction,  under  severe  penalties,  to  go  beyond  the  limits 
prescribed  by  the  permission,  which  might  afterwards,  however, 
be  rendered  more  favourable  to  them.  In  the  mean  time,  it 
might  be  enjoined  that  all  those  who  should  consent  to  it  might 
be  enrolled  in  presence  of  the  officers  and  agents  of  the  king  in 
each  parliament  of  justice,  and  that  some  of  the  most  influential 
members  of  the  society  be  held  responsible  for  all ;  that  is  to 
say,  they  might  represent  as  guilty  of  a  revolt  the  individuals 
who  should  infringe  the  royal  ordinance. 

Having  exposed  these  matters,  you-may  remind  the  said  king 
that  I  have  not  suggested  these  precautions  like  one  who  is  in 
a  place  of  security,  and  does  not  reflect  on  the  struggles  which 
he  will  have  to  maintain ;  but  I  imitate  those  physicians  who 
prescribe  what  is  necessary,  that  the  patient,  if  he  does  not 
comply  with  all  the  articles  of  the  prescription,  may,  at  least, 
observe  it  as  closely  as  possible. 


158        THE  REFORMED  CHURCHES  OF  FRANCE.      [1560. 

You  may  also  remind  him  that  till  he  have  rid  himself  of  all 
that  vermin,  he  will  neither  be  able  to  follow  good  counsels, 
(for  he  will  be  turned  aside  from  them  at  every  moment,)  nor 
will  God  permit  him  to  prosper.  Entreat  him  to  read  the  101st 
Psalm,  from  which  he  will  learn  that  God  will  never  dwell  with 
him  till  he  be  cleansed  from  such  pollutions.  Moreover,  that 
inasmuch  as  God  has  endowed  him  with  an  easy,  good-humoured 
disposition,  he  should  the  more  carefully  strive  to  have  about 
him  none  but  such  as  will  give  him  courage  to  do  his  duty. 

And,  in  conclusion,  let  him  know  that  I  beseech  him  to  re- 
ward me  by  furnishing  me  with  as  ample  matter  for  rejoicing 
as  he  has  hitherto  done  for  shedding  tears. 

[Fr.  Orig.,  corrected  hy  Calvin. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  145.] 


DLXXXI. — To  THE  Reformed  Churches  of  France.* 

Project  of  assembling  a  council— Conditions  requisite  for  its  legitimacy, 

Geneva,  Becemher,  1560. 
ADVICE   FOR   THE   HOLDING   OF   A   COUNCIL. 

To  put  an  end  to  the  divisions  which  exist  in  Christendom, 
it  is  necessary  to  have  a  free  and  universal  council. 

Its  liberty  consists  in  three  points ;  viz.,  in  the  place,  the 
persons,  and  in  the  manner  of  proceeding. 

In  respect  to  the  place,  if  there  be  not  a  secure  access  for 
all  those  who  are  to  be  heard  in  discussing  the  matters  which 
form  the  subject  of  controversy,  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  this 
will  be  shutting  the  door  on  them.  Wherefore  it  would  be  re- 
quisite to  select  a  town  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  nations  that 
are  to  be  present  at  the  council,  and  that  all  the  neighbouring 
provinces  around  it,  through  whose  countries  it  should  be  neces- 

'  Same  date  as  the  preceding  memorial.  An  article  of  the  treaty  of  Cateau-Cam- 
bresis  stipulated  the  assembling  of  a  general  council  for  the  reform  of  abuses  and  the 
re-establishment  of  religious  unity  in  Europe.  But  what  were  the  characters  which 
such  a  meeting  should  present,  in  order  to  be  equally  accepted  as  a  legitimate  tribu- 
nal by  Protestants  and  Catholics?  Such  is  the  question  to  which  Calvin  replied  in 
a  memorial  intended,  no  doubt,  for  the  Reformed  churches  of  France. 


1560.]  THE   REFORMED    CHURCHES   OF   FRANCE.  159 

sary  to  pass,  promise  and  swear  to  respect  the  safe  conduct  of 
those  who  repair  to  it,  both  in  going  and  on  their  return. 

Respecting  the  persons,  first  of  all,  it  would  be  an  iniquitous 
thing  should  none  but  the  bishops  have  a  decisive  voice  in  it, 
since  it  is  sufficiently  notorious  that  they  are  parties  concerned, 
and  cannot  therefore  be  competent  judges  in  their  own  cause. 

What  is  more,  should  the  authority  which  they  insist  on  being 
allowed  them,  yet  it  is  certain  that  not  one  of  them  is  free,  in- 
asmuch as  they  are  all  bound  and  subjected  by  the  oath  which 
they  have  taken  to  the  Pope  to  maintain  his  see,  a  thing  totally 
incompatible  with  the  liberty  of  a  Christian  council. 

The  remedy  would  be  that  out  of  the  party  which  desires 
and  demands  the  reformation  of  the  church,  both  in  doctrine 
and  in  morals,  should  be  elected  persons,  who,  though  not  pos- 
sessed of  a  deciding  vote,  should  yet  be  empowered  to  oppose 
all  resolutions  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God,  and  that  they 
should  be  entitled  to  be  heard  in  all  their  protestations,  while 
demonstrating  by  solid  reasons  the  grounds  of  their  opposition 
to  the  things  which  the  bishops  might  be  inclined  to  enact. 
Above  all,  it  is  not  to  be  tolerated  that  the  Pope  should  preside 
in  the  council  as  chief;  that  is  to  say,  with  the  pretensions  he 
has  recently  put  forth  of  making  every  thing  depend  on  him- 
self and  his  good  pleasure.  But  even  admitting  that  the  chief 
place  should  be  assigned  to  him,  it  should  be  an  indispensable 
condition  of  presidency  that  he,  in  all  things,  submit  to  the 
council,  and  take  an  oath  to  observe  whatever  should  be  decided 
and  concluded  in  it,  abdicating  the  domination  which  he  has 
usurped ;  the  bishops,  likewise,  should  swear  to  conform  to  the 
general  decision,  and  support  it  when  it  shall  have  corruptions 
and  abuses  to  eradicate  in  doctrine  as  well  as  in  ceremonies 
and  morals. 

As  to  the  manner  of  proceeding,  it  would  be  altogether  nu- 
gatory, if  the  custom  which  has  been  introduced  since  a  short 
time  should  be  followed,  which  is,  that  those  who  desire  a  refor- 
mation should  propose  their  measures  verbally,  or  in  writing, 
and  then  retire,  leaving  their  bishops,  the  prelates,  to  decide 
whatever  they  may  think  fit.  It  is  requisite  then  that  what- 
ever is  ill-advised  may  be  redressed,  and  also  that  it  be  per- 


160  THE    REFORMED    CHURCHES    OF   FRANCE.  [1560. 

mitted  to  reply  to  all  erroneous  opinions  by  sound  and  conclu- 
sive reasons. 

It  is,  likewise,  necessary  to  have  determined  beforehand  the 
order  in  which  the  matters  that  will  come  before  them  ought 
to  be  treated,  and  to  know  that  in  the  first  place  the  points 
and  articles  of  doctrine,  which  are  now  the  subject  of  contro- 
versy, should  be  fully  discussed ;  that  this  once  settled,  they 
may  proceed  to  regulate  the  ceremonies,  and  finally  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church. 

The  articles  of  doctrine,  on  which  at  present  the  parties  dis- 
pute, respect  the  service  of  God,  and  the  point  at  issue  between 
them  is,  whether  it  ought  to  be  regulated  purely  and  simply  by 
the  sacred  Scriptures ;  or  if,  indeed,  men  have  been  at  liberty 
to  lay  down  laws  of  their  own  respecting  it,  and  if  their  tra- 
ditions are  binding  upon  souls  on  pain  of  being  chargeable 
with  mortal  sins  if  they  neglect  them.  Under  that  head  are 
comprised  vows,  professions  of  celibacy,  confession,  and  things 
of  the  same  kind.  The  question  that  will  next  present  itself 
is,  upon  what  we  found  our  hopes  of  salvation,  and  whether  we 
are  justified  by  the  merit  of  our  own  works,  or  the  gratuitous 
mercy  of  God.  Connected  with  this  question  are  those  of  free- 
will, penances,  purgatory,  and  others  of  the  sort.  It  will  be 
proper  to  examine,  at  the  same  time,  how  we  should  invoke 
God  in  conformity  with  the  full  assurance  of  our  faith,  and  the 
right  solution  of  this  question  puts  an  end  to  the  intercession 
of  the  saints. 

In  regard  to  the  second  point,  that  of  ceremonies,  there  will 
be  here  an  occasion  for  treating  of  all  those  things  which  have 
been  borrowed  from  the  shadows  of  the  law,  of  the  number  of 
the  sacraments  with  their  accessory  matters,  etc. 

The  third  point,  concerning  the  government  of  the  church, 
includes  the  definition  of  the  office  of  bishops  or  pastors,  in  or- 
der to  ascertain  to  what  persons  this  title  belongs,  and  what  is 
the  scope  and  bearing  of  ranks,  degrees,  and  orders,  along  with 
privileges  and  things  of  a  like  character. 

Now,  it  would  not  be  enough  to  hold  a  council,  unless  it  were 
to  be  universal;  that  is  to  say,  if  the  object  of  it  were  not  to 
appease  all  the  troubles  of  Christendom.     True  it  is,  that  each 


15G1.]  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE.  161 

king  and  prince  can  very  well  remedy  the  disorders  of  his  own 
states  by  a  national  council,  when  he  shall  not  find  his  neigh- 
bours disposed  and  agreeing  in  sentiment  and  desires  with  him- 
self. But  should  a  partial  council  be  held,  which,  notwithstand- 
ing, should  be  called  a  universal  one,  this  would  only  kindle 
with  greater  violence,  and  spread  more  widely  the  brands  of 
discord.  Wherefore,  it  is  indispensably  necessary  that  those 
who  demand  a  reformation,  should  accept  the  council  which 
will  be  held,  in  order  that  all  Christendom  may  be  united,  or 
that  those  Avho  shall  be  unwilling  to  range  themselves  under  the 
banners  of  unity  and  concord  be  declared  and  held  for  schis- 
matics. 

[IV.  Orig. Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  145.] 


DLXXXII. — To  THE  King  of  Navarre.' 

He  exhorts  him  to  pursue  with  ardour  the  restoration  of  the  gospel  in  Fiance. 

Geneva,  16th  Jamutry,  1,061. 

Sire  : — If  I  thought  that  my  letters  were  disagreeable  to  you 
I  should  fear  to  importune  or  annoy  you  in  writing  them.  But 
the  confidence  I  entertain  emboldens  me,  because  as  I  feel  that 
you  are  convinced  of  the  respect  I  bear  towards  you,  and  of 
my  good  intentions  to  strive  to  render  you  service,  so  I  am 
sure  you  will  receive  graciously  the  testimony  which  I  endea- 
vour to  give  of  them.  Wherefore,  sire,  though  I  am  aware 
that  you  have  no  need  of  my  counsels,  yet  I  do  not  cease  to 
entreat  and  even  exhort  you,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  be  pleased 

'  The  weakness  and  ignorance  of  the  King  of  Navarre  had  deceived  the  calcula- 
tions of  Calvin,  and  the  just  hopes  of  the  Reformed  party.  "  For  though,"  says  Beza, 
"both  God  and  the  laws  called  him  to  the  government  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  con- 
sent of  the  states  required  it  of  him,  in  which  he  would  neither  have  found  want  of 
counsel  nor  of  force  to  re-establish  every  thing,  in  case  of  resistance,  he  was  so  far 
from  supporting  his  rank  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  contented  himself  with  the  shadow 
of  it,  leaving  willingly  the  body  and  the  substance  to  the  queen  mother,  without  her 
experiencing  any  difficulty." — Hist.  Eccl.,  vol.  i.,  p-  564.  Nevertheless,  as  lieutenant 
general  of  the  kingdom,  the  King  of  Navarre  hnd  it  in  his  power  to  contribute  greatly 
to  the  consolidation  and  progress  of  the  Kiloni.ed  churches.  Calvin  spared  tbia 
prince  neither  warnings  nor  admonitions. 

21 


162  THE    QUEEN    OF   NAVAKRE.  [1561. 

to  take  courage,  in  order  to  do  combat  courageously  and  more  and 
more  overcome  all  the  difficulties  with  which  I  know  you  to  be 
surrounded.  And,  in  truth,  the  re-establishment  of  such  a  king- 
dom is  an  object  for  which  we  should  spare  nothing,  and  still 
more  it  is  our  most  imperious  duty  to  strive  that  the  reign  of 
the  Son  of  God,  true  religion  and  the  pure  doctrine  of  salvation, 
which  are  things  more  precious  than  the  whole  world,  should  be 
completely  re-established.  The  greatest  obstacle  that  stands 
in  your  way  seems  to  me  easy  to  be  overcome,  whenever  you 
shall  be  pleased,  sire,  to  remonstrate  frankly  with  the  adverse 
party,'  and  let  her  feel  keenly  that  she  ought  not  to  apply  in 
thwarting  you  the  power  which  she  holds  only  by  your  favour. 
For  the  rest,  sire,  there  is  one  subject  of  which  I  have  thought 
it  good  and  expedient  to  remind  you,  that  your  majesty  may 
be  pleased  to  provide  for  it  according  to  your  wisdom.  It  is 
not  my  natural  disposition,  nor  my  habit,  to  intrude  and  inter- 
fere. But  it  seemed  to  me  to  be  my  duty  to  recommend  to  you 
the  bearer  of  this  letter,  that  you  may  learn  from  him,  by  word 
of  mouth,  the  matter  in  question,  when  your  good  pleasure  shall 
decide  upon  giving  him  an  audience. 

Sire,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indulgent 
favour,  I  will  pray  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you  in  his 
keeping,  to  sustain  you  by  his  power,  and  increase  in  you  all 
good  and  prosperity. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Libra7-y  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DLXXXIII. — To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre.* 

He  congratulates  her  on  her  conversion,  and  lays  before  her,  her  principal  duties  as  a 
Christian  princess. 

Geneva,  16«A  January,  1561. 

Madame: — I  cannot  adequately  express  my  joy  at  the  letter 
you  were  pleased  to  write  to  mj  brother  Monsieur  de  Cha- 

'  The  regent  Catherine  De  Medicis. 

'Without  date.    Written  no  doubt  at  the  same  time  as  the  preceding  16th  January, 
1561. 


1561.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE.  163 

lonn<5,'  seeing  how  powerfully  God  had  wrought  in  you  in  a  few 
hours.  For  though  already  long  ago  he  had  sown  in  you  some 
good  seed,  you  know  at  present  that  it  was  almost  choked  by 
the  thorns  of  this  world ;  as  for  want  of  daily  exercising  our- 
selves in  the  holy  Scriptures,  the  truth  which  we  had  known 
little  by  little  drops  away,  till  at  length  it  totally  disappears,  un- 
IcKs  our  compassionate  Father  provide  a  remedy.  Now  of  his 
infinite  goodness  he  has  made  provision  to  keep  you  from  coming 
to  that  extremity.  It  is  true  that  those  who  yield  to  indiffer- 
ence, take  a  pleasure  in  their  inactivity,  not  perceiving  that  it  is 
a  mortal  lethargy.  But  when  it  pleases  God  to  rouse  us  up  and 
draw  us  effectually  to  the  fear  of  his  holy  name,  and  kindle  in 
our  hearts  an  ardent  desire  to  serve  his  glory,  that  is  an  in- 
quietude happier  and  more  desirable  than  all  the  delights,  plea- 
sures, and  enjoyments,  in  which  poor  worldings  lose  themselves. 
I  speak  familiarly,  Madame,  believing  that  you  will  without 
hesitation  give  me  leave  to  do  so,  as  moreover,  I  have  derived 
this  advantage  from  your  letter  that  it  has  given  me  an  occasion 
and  a  liberal  access  to  write  to  you. 

Wherefore,  Madame,  I  pray  you  to  prize  the  mercy  of  God 
as  it  deserves,  not  only  because  it  has  brought  you  all  at  once 


Daughter  of  Henry  d'Albret  King  of  Navarre  and  of  Margaret  de  Valois,  the  sister 
of  Francis  I.,  Jane  d'Albret  joined  to  the  talents  of  her  mother,  superior  judgment 
and  a  heroic  soul.  Betrothed  in  her  childhood  to  the  Duke  of  Cleves,  and  married 
in  1548  to  Antony  de  Bourbon,  Duke  of  Vendome,  she  inherited  a  few  years  afterwards 
the  kingdom  of  Navarre.  The  Reform  had  already  long  before  penetrated  into  this 
country,  and  the  preachers  of  Geneva  found  support  and  favour  at  the  court  of  Nerac. 
"But  the  queen,"  says  Brantome,  "who  was  a  young,  beautiful,  and  very  virtuous 
princess,  and  who  loved,  moreover,  quite  as  much  a  dance  as  a  sermon,  took  no  great 
pleasure  in  this  innovation  in  religion."  It  was  only  at  a  later  period,  daring  the 
process  of  the  Prince  of  Conde  and  the  captivity  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  that  this 
princess,  taught  by  misfortune,  showed  herself  more  attentive  to  evangelical  exhorta- 
tions: — "Seeing,"  says  Beza,  "that  the  trust  she  had  reposed  in  men  was  deceived, 
and  that  all  human  succour  failed  her,  being  touched  to  the  heart  by  the  lovo  of  God, 
she  had  recourse  to  him  with  all  humility,  and  in  sorrow  and  tears.  .  .  so  that  in  the 
lime  of  her  greatest  tribulation  she  made  a  public  profession  of  the  pure  doctrine, 
being  fortified  by  Francis  Le  Guay,  otherwise  called  Bois  Normand,  and  Henry, 
faithful  ministers  of  the  word  of  God."     Hist.  EccL,  vol.  i.,  p.  326. 

'A  pseudonym  of  Theodore  Beza.  Sent  on  the  30th  July,  1560,  to  Nerac,  "to  in- 
struct the  King  and  Queen  of  Navarre  in  the  word  of  God,"  he  acquitted  himself 
successfully  of  this  mission,  and  had  commenced  his  journey  back  to  Geneva  in  the 
month  of  November  of  the  same  year. 


164  THE    QUEEN   OF   NAVARRE.  [1561. 

out  of  the  darkness  of  death  to  show  you  the  light  of  life  in  his 
Son,  who  is  the  true  sun  of  righteousness,  but  also  because  he  has 
deeply  imprinted  on  your  heart  a  faith  in  his  gospel,  giving  to  it  a 
living  root,  that  it  may  bring  forth  its  due  fruits.  For  you  have 
felt  by  experience  how  the  vanities  of  this  world  deaden  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth.  We  would  fain  swim  between  two  currents, 
so  that  the  word  of  God  is  made  cold  and  of  no  effect,  if  tlie 
power  of  God  be  not  conjoined  therewith.  And  this  is  the  true 
and  perfect  covenant  which  he  promises  to  contract  with  his  own 
children,  namely,  to  impress  and  engrave  his  doctrine  on  their 
inward  parts.  Having  then  received  so  great  and  inestimable  a 
benefit,  you  have  reason  to  be  so  much  the  more  zealous  to  dedi- 
cate yourself  (as  you  do)  entirely  to  Him,  who  has  bound  you  so 
closely  to  himself.  And  whereas  kings  and  princes  would  often 
wish  to  be  exempted  from  subjection  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  are 
accustomed  to  make  a  buckler  of  their  privileges  under  pretence 
of  their  greatness,  being  ashamed  even  to  belong  to  the  fold  of 
this  great  Shepherd,  do  you,  Madame,  bethink  you  that  the 
dignity  and  grandeur  in  which  this  God  of  goodness  has  brought 
you  up,  should  be  in  your  esteem  a  double  tie  to  bind  you  to 
obedience  to  him,  seeing  that  it  is  from  him  that  you  hold  every- 
thing, and  that  according  to  the  measure  which  each  one  has 
received,  he  shall  have  to  render  a  stricter  account.  But  since 
I  see  how  the  Spirit  of  God  governs  you,  I  have  more  reason  to 
render  him  thanks  than  to  exhort  you  as  if  you  had  need  to  be 
goaded  forward.  When,  besides,  I  doubt  not  but  you  apply  all 
your  zeal  to  that  end,  as  is  indeed  very  requisite,  when  we  re- 
flect on  the  coldness,  weakness,  and  frailty  that  is  in  us. 

Long  ago  we  had  already  essayed  to  discharge  our  duty  with 
respect  of  the  king  your  husband,  and  even  more  than  once  to 
the  end  that  he  might  quit  himself  manfully.  But  you  will  see 
once  more,  Madame,  by  the  copy  of  the  letter  which  we  have 
sent  to  him,  what  effects  your  admonition  has  produced. 

Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  I  will  pray  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you 
always  in  his  keeping,  to  govern  and  direct  you  by  his  Spirit,  to 
strengthen  you  by  his  power,  and  increase  you  in  all  good. 
[Fr.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


1561.]  THE   ADMIRAL   COLIGNY.  165 


DLXXXIV.— To  THE  Admiral  Coligny.> 

Encomiums  on  the  constancy  of  the  admiral — Recommendation  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  IQth  January,  1561. 

MoNSEiGNEUR : — We  have  indeed  occasion  to  praise  God  for  the 
singular  courage  which  he  has  bestowed  on  us  to  serve  his  glory 
and  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  his  Son.  It  were  to 
be  desired  that  you  had  many  companions  to  aid  you  in  your 
task,  but  though  others  are  slow  in  acquitting  themselves  of 
•  their  duty,  nevertheless  you  ought  to  put  in  practice  the  saying 
of  our  Lord,  that  each  should  follow  cheerfully  without  looking 
upon  others.  St.  Peter  fearing  to  march  by  himself  said  to  Jesus 
of  John,  And  this  man,  what  of  him?  The  answer  given  to 
one  man  should  be  applied  to  all.  Let  every  one  go  whither 
he  shall  be  called,  even  if  he  should  not  have  a  single  follower, 
though  I  trust  that  the  magnanimity  which  God  has  hitherto 
caused  to  shine  forth  in  you,  will  be  a  good  lesson  to  draw  out 
the  lukewarm.  Even  if  the  whole  world  should  be  blind  and 
ungrateful,  and  that  it  should  seem  to  you  that  all  your  pains 
had  been  laid  out  in  vain,  let  it  satisfy  you  that  God  and  the 

'  Restored  to  liberty  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  between  Spain  and  France, 
the  admiral  had  openly  declared  for  the  Reform.  Unshaken  by  the  threats  as  well  as 
by  the  seductions  of  the  court,  he  had  the  courage  to  present  to  King  Francis  II.  in 
the  assembly  of  the  Notables  at  Fontainblcau  an  address  from  the  Protestants  of 
Normandy  demanding  the  free  exercise  of  their  worship,  and  added  proudly  in  pre- 
sence of  the  Guises,  that  in  this  single  province  fifty  thousand  persons  were  prepared 
to  sign  their  names  to  this  petition.  Some  months  later  (November  1561)  he  quitted 
Chatillon  to  repair  at  the  peril  of  his  life  to  the  Estates  of  Orleans.  "  On  leaving  his 
house,"  says  Beza,  "  he  was  unwilling  to  dissemble  from  his  wife  (one  of  the  most 
Christian  and  virtuous  ladies  of  her  times)  the  dangers  by  which  he  was  going  to  be 
surrounded,  and  without  expecting  from  them  any  prosperous  issue,  saying,  however, 
that  he  bad  perfect  confidence  that  God  would  have  compassion  on  his  poor  church 
and  on  the  kingdom;  exhorting  the  lady  as  well  as  her  family  to  remain  constant  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  in  which  they  had  been  rightly  instructed,  since  God  had 
given  them  to  know  that  it  was  the  only  true  and  heavenly  food,  and  that  it  was  their 
duty  to  think  it  the  greatest  happiness  to  suff"er  for  his  name."  Iliat.  Eccl.  vol.  i.,  pp. 
392,  393.  The  sudden  death  of  King  Francis  II.,  having  disappointed  the  hopes  of 
the  Guises,  and  brought  on  a  change  favourable  to  the  Reformed,  the  admiral  did  not 
hesitate  to  have  the  gospel  preached  in  his  own  house  at  Paris. 


166  THE    ADMIRAL    COLIGNY.  [1561. 

angels  approve  of  your  conduct.  And  in  reality  it  ought  to 
suffice  you  that  you  cannot  miss  the  heavenly  crown,  after 
having  courageously  battled  for  the  glory  of  the  Son  of  God,  in 
which  consists  our  eternal  salvation. 

For  the  rest,  Monseigneur,  I  have  made  bold  to  address  to 
you  the  bearer  of  this  letter  in  order  that  he  may  expose  to  you 
an  affair  of  which  you  will  have  a  more  ample  detail  from  his 
mouth,  whenever  you  shall  be  pleased  to  grant  him  an  audience. 
I  believe  that  after  having  listened  to  him  you  will  not  find  the 
advice  amiss  nor  the  execution  of  it  importunate;  at  least  you 
"will  in  your  wisdom  conclude,  that  I  have  nothing  at  heart  but 
the  repose  and  prosperity  of  the  kingdom.  I  do  not  dissemble 
the  desire  I  feel  that  some  measures  should  be  adopted  in  favour 
of  this  poor  city,  in  order  that  it  may  not  be  exposed  to  pillage.' 
But  as  I  am  convinced  that  the  safety  of  this  place  needs  not 
to  be  recommended  to  you,  you  will  not  blame  the  anxiety  I  feel 
respecting  it,  especially  as  that  anxiety  tends  to  the  public  good 
of  France,  and  is  intimately  connected  with  it. 

Whereupon,  in  conclusion,  Monseigneur,  after  humbly  com- 
mending myself  to  your  indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our 
heavenly  Father  to  keep  you  under  his  protection,  and  increase 
in  you  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit,  that  his  name  may  be  more  and 
more  glorified  in  you. 

Your  humble  servant, 

John  Calvin. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Libra?'}/  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 

'After  the  peace  of  Cateau  Cambresis  and  the  restoration  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to 
his  states,  Geneva  was  constantly  threatened  with  an  attack  by  this  prince,  supported 
by  the  pope  and  Philip  II.  Emmanuel  Philibert  asked  the  Catholic  powers  to  guarantee 
to  him  beforehand  his  conquest.  But  could  France  abandon  Geneva  without  .alien- 
ating the  Swiss  Cantons  from  which  she  drew  precious  succours?  The  independence 
of  Geneva  was  necessary  for  the  security  of  France.  Such  was  the  sense  of  Calvin's 
representations  to  the  admiral,  and  of  the  admiral's  to  the  court,  of  which  the  policy  at 
this  moment  appeared  more  favourable  to  the  Reformed  party. 


1561.]  THE  KING  OF  FRANCE.  167 

DLXXXV. — To  THE  King  of  France.' 

Rejily  to  the  accusations  directed  against  the  Church  and  Seigneury  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  2Sth  January,  1561. 

Sire  : — Having  heard  the  letters  of  your  majesty,  though 
■\ve  had  a  ready  excuse  to  satisfy  you,  we  are  nevertheless  ex- 
ceedingly sorry  that  we  should  be  charged  with  being  partly 
the  cause  of  the  troubles  which  have  lately  taken  place  in  your 
kingdom.  The  smallness  of  our  state  does  not  permit  us  to 
allege  what  services  we  have  rendered  to  your  predecessors,  to 
show  that  we  have  been  as  well  affected  towards  the  crown  of 
France  as  could  have  been  desired  of  us.  Thus  far,  sure,  our 
good-will  has  never  been  wanting  in  that  respect,  and  the  effects 
of  it,  too,  have  been  manifested  as  far  as  God  has  afforded  us 
any  opportunity.  Wherefore,  sire,  for  the  time  past,  we  pray 
your  majesty  to  deign  to  accept  the  devotedness  which  we  have 
always  and  for  a  long  time  displayed,  and  in  which  we  have 
persisted  as  a  proof  of  the  desire  which  we  have  to  serve  you  to 
the  utmost  of  our  power,  for  the  tranquillity  and  prosperity  of 

'  Focus  of  the  propagation  of  the  Reformed  religion  in  the  states  of  the  south  of 
Europe,  the  city  of  Geneva  was  incessantly  exposed  to  the  enmity  of  the  Catholic  powers. 
The  23d  of  January,  1561,  the  King  of  France,  Charles  IX.,  in  a  threatening  letter  to 
the  council,  complained  bitterly  of  the  troubles  excited  in  his  kingdom  by  the  pre- 
sence of  the  preachers  that  had  come  from  Geneva,  and  summoned  the  seigneury  to 
recall  them.  In  so  difiBcult  a  conjuncture,  the  council,  assembled  in  an  extraordinary 
sitting,  invited  the  ministers  to  attend  its  meeting.  "After  having  heard,"  say  the 
registers,  "the  reading  of  the  said  letter,  and  consulted  together,  they  have  replied 
that  they  are  sorry  to  be  blamed  in  that  manner  unjustly;  that  no  doubt  the}'  cannot 
deny  that  when  any  one  addressed  himself  to  tliem,  and  they  considered  him  a  pro- 
per person,  they  have  exhorted  him  to  do  his  duty  to  advance  the  knowledge  of  the 
gospel  in  France,  as  our  Lord  commands  us,  but  as  for  the  troubles  that  have  arisen  in 
France,  they  are  by  no  means  blamable  for  them,  .  .  .  begging  the  council  to  reply  to 
the  king  that  they  are  ready  fully  to  justify  themselves  in  his  presence  of  all  that  is 
imputed  to  them." — Extraits  des  Registres,  28th  January,  1561.  Calvin,  who  was  the 
organ  of  the  seigneury,  in  difficult  circumstances,  was  charged  to  replj'  in  their  name 
to  the  King  of  France.  "  Then  he  was  told  to  make  the  reply  promptly  that  it 
might  be  despatched  by  the  same  express  that  had  brought  the  letter;  and  further, 
it  was  enjoined  that  all  the  seigneurs  here  assembled,  and  all  the  ministers,  should 
keep  secret,  on  pain  of  death,  the  contents  of  the  letter,  in  order  that  it  may  appear 
to  the  public  that  the  king  has  written  to  us  to  our  advantage  rather  than  to  our  dis- 
advantage, which  might  cause  us  great  prejudice." 


168  THE    KING    OF   FRANCE.  [1561. 

your  kingdom,  and  to  co-operate,  if  an  opportunity  permit  us, 
to  procure  for  your  majesty  that  obedience  to  which  you  are  enti- 
tled. But  lest  it  should  seem,  sire,  that  under  this  general  ex- 
pression of  our  sentiments  we  wish  to  conceal  any  thing,  we 
protest  in  verity  before  God  that  we  have  never  attempted  to 
send  persons  into  your  kingdom  as  your  majesty  has  been  told ; 
what  is  more,  such  proceedings  have  never  been  demanded  of 
us,  nor  has  any  one  ever  addressed  himself  to  us  for  such  a  pur- 
pose ;  so  that  it  will  be  found  that  no  one,  with  our  knowledge 
and  permission,  has  ever  gone  from  here  to  preach  except  a 
single  individual  Avho  was  asked  of  us  for  the  city  of  London.' 
Not  that  we  disapprove  of  true  Christianity  being  re-established 
everywhere,  and  for  that  reason  we  beg  your  majesty,  with 
your  council  at  the  same  time,  not  to  suppose  that  we  wish  to 
perish  knowingly,  and  work  the  perdition  of  our  souls  which 
have  been  ransomed  at  so  costly  a  price  by  the  precious  blood 
of  the  Son  of  God.  We  could  wish,  therefore,  that  the  doc- 
trine by  which  our  salvation  is  assured  had  free  course  every- 
where. But  we  know  well  also  what  is  within  our  compass, 
and  we  do  not  presume  even  to  wish  to  reform  extensive  king- 
doms, having  quite  enough  to  do  to  maintain  ourselves  peaceably 
and  in  all  humility,  in  the  lowly  condition  in  which  God  has 
placed  us.  But  because  the  letters  bore  that  that  might  have 
been  done  by  some  of  the  principal  ministers  of  our  town,  sup- 
posing (for  the  expression  was  ambiguous)  that  the  words  were 
meant  to  be  applied  to  our  ministers  and  pastors  who  instruct 
us  in  the  word  of  God,  we  have  summoned  them,  in  order  to 
know  from  themselves  what  grounds  there  were  for  such  a 
charge,  in  order  that  we  might  promptly  satisfy  your  majesty. 
They  have  replied,  then,  that  they  do  not  deny  that  some  per- 
sons have  made  application  to  them,  and  that  on  their  part,  when 
they  have  found  that  those  who  had  recourse  to  them  were  per- 
sons possessing  instruction  and  piety,  they  have  exhorted  them 
to  exercise  their  gifts  wherever  they  should  go  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  gospel.  For  since  they  find,  and  are  persuaded 
that  the  doctrine  which  they  preach  is  of  God,  tending  to  have 
him  duly  and  purely  served  and  honoured,  that  the  grace  which 

'  Nicholas  des  Gallars. 


1561.]  THE  KING  OF  FRANCE.  IGO 

ho  has  bestOAvcd  on  us  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  sliouhl  bo  made 
known,  as  it  is  entitled  to  be,  and  that  all  men  should  be  made 
acquainted  with  the  right  way  of  salvation,  in  order  to  attain 
it,  it  is  impossible  that  they  should  not  desire  this  doctrine  to 
be  disseminated  everywhere,  both  that  God  may  be  glorified, 
and  because  of  the  care  they  are  bound  to  take  of  all  men. 
And  in  that,  sire,  they  make  this  excuse,  that  they  by  no  means 
imagined  that  they  were  offending  your  majesty,'  seeing  that 
it  is  the  sovereign  good  of  all  kings  and  princes  to  do  homage 
to  Him  who  has  appointed  them  to  reign,  and  that  they  are 
especially  commanded  to  kiss  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  token  of 
obedience. 

With  regard  to  the  charge  of  stirring  up  disturbances  and 
seditions,  they  protest  against  ever  having  entertained  any  such 
intention,  and  declare  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  have  em- 
ployed all  their  influence  to  check  and  prevent  them,  that  they 
have  never  given  advice  to  make  any  innovations,  or  attempted 
any  thing  criminal  with  respect  to  the  established  order  of  the 
state,  but  have  exhorted  those  who  are  disposed  to  listen  to 
them  to  remain  in  peaceable  subjection  to  their  prince.  And 
if  any  disturbances  have  arisen,  it  has  been  to  their  great  regret, 
and  certainly  not  by  their  having  furnished  any  pretext  for  them. 
And  so  far  have  they  been  from  countenancing  any  such  enter- 
prises, that  they  would  willingly  have  lent  their  aid  to  repress  them.^ 
In  short,  they  have  declared  that  they  never  adhered  to  any 
violent  counsels,  nor  recommended  the  taking  up  of  arms,  but 
have  condemned  them ;  and  what  is  more,  they  never  advised 
the  taking  forcible  possession  of  churches,  for  tliis  express  rea- 
son, that  they  wished  to  attempt  nothing  without  the  authority 
and  permission  of  the  late  sovereigns,  your  predecessors.  And 
of  all  such  charges  they  have  oflFered  to  justify  themselves,  and 
prove  their  innocence,  whenever  it  shall  please  your  majesty 
to  give  them  a  hearing.  For  our  own  part,  sire,  we  are  so  far 
from  ever  having  given  our  consent  to  any  enterprise  that  had 
for  its  object  to  sow  discord  and  divisions  among  your  subjects, 

'  What  follows  is  written  by  the  hand  of  the  secretary  of  the  republic,  and  was 
dictated  by  Calvin. 

'  Allusion  to  the  conspiracy  of  Ainboise.  See  the  letter  of  the  IGth  of  April,  I06I, 
to  the  Ailiuiral  de  Coligiiy. 

0'> 


170  THE    CHUKCU    OF   PARIS.  [1561. 

or  trouble  the  tranquillity  of  your  state,  or  expose  your  pro- 
vinces to  danger,  that  -we  have  given  orders  and  forbidden,  on 
pain  of  rigorous  punishments,  any  of  our  citizens  from  taking 
one  step  in  such  proceedings ;  and  when  you  shall  be  pleased, 
sire,  to  inquire  into  the  truth  on  this  subject,  you  will  find  that 
it  was  impossible  for  us  to  have  conducted  ourselves  with  greater 
fidelity,  just  as  we  engage  for  the  future  to  give  to  your  majesty 
no  occasion  of  thinking  otherwise  of  us  than  as  of  persons  well 
disposed  to  your  person  and  your  very  humble  servants  ;  and  we 
entreat  you,  sire,  to  do  us  this  favour,  that  having  recognized 
that  we  have  not  failed  in  any  point  of  duty  towards  you,  you 
will  intimate  to  us  the  fact,  and  your  majesty  with  your  coun- 
cil will  discover  that  we  are  ready  and  inclined  to  give  you 
every  satisfaction. 

Sire,  after  having  very  humbly  commended  ourselves  to  your 
kind  favour,  we  will  pray  God  to  keep  you  under  his  holy  pro- 
tection, to  grant  you  a  long  and  prosperous  life,  and  increase 
your  crown  with  all  blessings. 

Given  at  Geneva  this  Thursday,  the  28th  January,  in  the 
year  of  grace,  1561. 

The  humble  servants  of  your  majesty,  the  Syndics  and  Coun- 
cil of  Geneva. 
[Fr.  Orig.  Minute^  in  the  handwriting  of  Calvin.  Arch,  of  Gen.,  1561.] 


DLXXXVI.— To  THE  Church  of  Paris.» 

He  apologizes  for  not  being  able  to  send  to  it  new  ministers — Advice  relating  to  the 
Council  of  Trent — Disapprobation  of  the  excesses  committed  by  the  Reformed  iu 
the  south  of  France. 

Geneva,  26<A  Felrnary,  1561. 

Messieurs,  and  well  beloved  brethren,  I  suppose  that  one  of 
our  friends  has  brought  you  letters,  and  has  apologized  to  you 

■  Decimated  by  persecution,  but  recruited  by  an  ardent  proselytism,  the  Church  of 
Paris  demanded  from  that  of  Geneva  new  ministers.  The  minister,  Flavigny,  wrote 
to  Calvin  : — "  If  you  grant  us  our  request,  you  will  be  the  cause  of  so  great  a  progrees 
that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  express  it." — Letter  of  the  22d  February,  1560,  Library 
of  Geneva,  vol.  197  a.     The  Church  of  Geneva  could  not  subscribe  to  these  demands 


1561.]  THE    CHURCH    OF    PARIS.  171 

orally,  because  we  have  not  been  able  to  satisfy  your  desire  in 
sending  you  the  man  you  demand.  For,  first,  there  is  one  of 
our  colleagues  at  the  present  moment  elsewhere,'  and  to  deprive 
ourselves  of  two,  all  at  once,  would  be  rather  too  much,  seeing 
that  some  of  our  society  are  ill,  whose  place  we  are  obliged  to 
supply  as  if  they  were  absent.  And  though  it  is  with  much 
ado  I  drag  myself  along,  still  from  the  urgency  of  circumstances 
I  am  to  be  considered,  as  it  were,  the  most  robust  of  our  body. 
It  seems  to  me,  also,  that  you  should  have  some  consideration  for 
the  threats  that  have  been  pronounced  against  us,  which  are 
so  harsh  and  violent  as  to  astonish  many  people.  But  besides 
all  that,  the  person  you  demand  is  fallen  ill  a  second  time,  and 
so  gravely  that  should  we  burst  like  a  thunderbolt  upon  him,  it 
would  be  impossible  for  him  to  stir. 

With  regard  to  the  point  about  which  you  ask  our  advice,  we 
have  not  yet  heard  any  thing  of  it  f  though  by  common  rumour 
it  has  come  to  our  ears  that  a  council  was  to  be  assembled. 
No  one  has  even  feigned  that  there  was  any  necessity  for  in- 
forming us  about  it.^  Now  we  did  not  know  if  it  would  be  ad- 
visable to  intermeddle,  for  there  are  many  heads  difficult  to 
manage.  At  present  we  shall  tell  you,  in  a  few  words,  our  opi- 
nion. It  is  that  you  have  no  occasion  to  concern  yourselves 
about  the  council,  nor  to  send  to  it  either  confession  or  protes- 
tation. First,  for  an  excellent  reason,  it  would  not  be  received, 
nor  would  there  be  any  means  of  presenting  it ;  and  even  if  that 
would  be  done,  you  would  only  give  occasion  for  stirring  up  vio- 
lent tumults  without  any  useful  results.  For  your  enemies 
would  have  excellent  pretexts  for  falling  foul  of  you  outrage- 
ously, as  having  exposed  the  country  to  civil  wars.     Moreover, 

continually  renewed  without  depriving  itself  of  its  own  pastors,  and  exposing  the 
city  to  the  redoubtable  resentment  of  the  King  of  France.  See  the  preceding  letter, 
as  well  as  the  Latin  correspondence  of  the  Reformer,  February,  1561.  Charged  with 
replying  to  the  ministers  of  Paris,  Calvin,  at  the  same  time,  gave  them  advice  on  se- 
veral important  points  of  policy  and  religion. 

*  Nicholas  des  Gallars,  called  to  reorganize  the  French  Church  at  London. 

'  Respecting  the  line  of  conduct  they  were  to  follow  in  case  a  general  council 
should  be  assembled.     See  the  memorial  to  the  Reformed  churches,  page  158. 

'  Convoked  at  Trent  for  the  feast  of  Easter,  1561,  the  council  w.is  not  opened  till  the 
month  of  January,  1562.  This  assembly  realized  none  of  the  conditions  required  by  the 
Reformed,  and  which  were  necessary  fur  assuring  the  religious  paciQcatiou  of  Europe. 


172  THE  CHURCH  OF  PARIS.  [1561. 

you  ought  to  let  the  danger  pass  by,  because  there  will  be  abun- 
dance of  other  opponents,  and  it  is  possible  they  will  be  asking 
for  a  great  deal  more  than  they  are  authorized  to  do.  When 
you  shall  have  considered  every  thing  closely,  you  will  find  that 
there  is  neither  opening  nor  grounds  for  your  interference,  and 
that  in  this  matter  you  will  do  well  to  fold  your  hands  and  sit 
still.  The  reason  is  different  with  respect  to  the  Estates.'  For 
there  it  will  be  necessary  for  you  to  endeavour  to  make  all  the 
remonstrances  in  your  power,  that  the  council  is  neither  Catholic 
nor  legitimate,  seeing  that  it  is  but  a  continuation  of  what  has 
been  done  heretofore,  to  ratify  resolutions  full  of  errors  and 
blasphemies,  and  entirely  contrary  to  the  word  of  God.  There 
will  be  no  liberty  to  examine  the  matters  which  are  the  subject 
of  difference  between  us,  nor  to  obtain  any  good  reformation 
of  abuses,  as  the  pope  seeks  not  to  consult  the  necessities  of 
the  church,  but  only  to  maintain  his  own  tyranny ;  and  never- 
theless there  is  need  that  the  king  with  his  council  should  pro- 
vide for  those  things  in  a  better  manner,  without  expecting  any 
thing  from  those  who  care  not  whether  they  bring  confusion 
and  ruin  on  his  state,  country,  and  subjects,  provided  their  own 
profits  suffer  no  diminution.  That  subject  might  be  touched 
upon  in  a  more  conciliatory  manner,  but  may  God  be  pleased  to 
give  you  counsel  thereupon. 

Of  the  other  things  which  you  shall  have  to  demand,  your  de- 
liberation will  depend  upon  the  state  in  which  you  will  find  mat- 
ters at  the  time.  Your  object,  nevertheless,  should  always  be 
(and  all  your  efforts  should  be  directed  singly  to  the  attainment 
of  this  object),  that  some  tolerable  provision  be  made  for  secur- 
ing your  rights,  and  that  poor  innocent  people  should  not  be 
molested,  nor  persecuted,  nor  blood  wantonly  shed  as  hereto- 
fore.*    You  will  advise  among  yourselves,  also,  how  you  may 

'  The  Estates  General,  held  at  Orleans  the  13th  December,  1560,  had  been  prorogued 
to  the  month  of  May,  at  Pontoise.  They  were  to  deliberate  in  this  new  assembly 
respecting  the  reform  of  religious  abuses,  and  the  means  of  restoring  peace  to  the 
church. — De  Thou,  Lib.  xxvii. 

*  In  the  Estates  of  Orleans,  Jacques  de  Sillery,  Comte  of  Rochefort,  had  presented 
to  the  king,  in  the  name  of  the  nobility,  a  petition  demanding  the  free  exercise  of 
religious  worship  for  the  Protestants.  This  petition  was  to  have  been  presented  for 
the  deliberation  of  the  Estates  prorogued  to  Pontoise. 


1561.]  JOHN   LENING.  173 

make  all  lawful  efforts  to  procure  for  yourselves  such  favour  as 
may  enable  you  to  obtain  your  request. 

To  give  yourselves  up  to  extravagant  excesses  of  joy,  and  to 
take  possession  of  the  churches,  except  by  permission,  are 
things  which  you  know  I  have  never  approved  of.  As  often 
as  it  has  been  done,  it  was  in  despite  of  me.'  If  they  go  on  in 
this  manner,  we  shall  leave  the  event  in  the  hands  of  God.  We 
are  afraid  that  this  heat  will  be  cooled  by  some  rude  storm.* 

Whereupon,  commending  ourselves  to  you  and  to  your  fer- 
vent prayers,  we  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  keeping,  to  fortify  you  by  the  power  of  his  Spirit, 
to  direct  you  in  all  jonr  affairs,  and  to  give  to  them  a  prosper- 
ous issue. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DLXXXVII.— To  John  Lening.' 

Hostilities  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy — Diversion  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  and  at  Nice- 
Unexpected  preservation  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  '[Ath  March,  1561. 

As  your  letter  testifies  how  deep  an  interest  you  take  in  the 
state  of  this  city,  and  what  anxiety  its  dangers  occasion  you, 
honoured  brother,  I  return  you  most  sincere  thanks  for  your 
pious  and  fraternal  zeal.  What  you  indicate  with  sufficient  and 
more  than  sufficient  probability  has  been  already  discovered ;  for 
the  tendency  of  that  clandestine  league,  purchased  at  the  ex- 
pense of  so  much  penury  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  was  no  mystery 

'  In  some  localities  in  the  south  of  France,  the  Protestants  had  taken  forcible  pos- 
session, and  in  spite  of  Calvin's  remonstrances,  of  several  edifices  consecrated  to  the 
Catholic  worship.     See  the  Latin  correspondence  of  the  Reformer  of  the  years  15f51-'62. 

"  What  had  taken  place  at  Valence  is  a  proof  of  this.  See  letter,  p.  95.  The 
Marechal  Dainville,  also,  exercised  severe  reprisals  on  the  Protestants  of  Languedoc. 

*  An  unknown  personage,  probably  a  minister  of  Switzerland.  This  conjecture  is 
confirmed  by  the  following  passage  of  a  letter  from  Lening  to  Calvin,  Februnry  22nd, 
1561.  "BuUinger  will  be  able  to  tell  you  who  Lening  is,  and  where  he  lives  and 
with  what  zeal  he  has  hitherto  preached  the  word  of  God,  for  more  than  thirty  years." 
Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy,  102. 


174  JOHN    LENING.  [1561. 

to  any  one.  He  had  indeed  repeatedly  attempted  to  form  an 
alliance  with  the  whole  Helvetic  nation,  but  not  succeeding  in 
his  project,  he  has  had  recourse  to  the  five  Catholic  cantons. 
At  length  he  attracted  to  his  schemes  the  inhabitants  of  Soleure 
and  Fribourg,  not  that  he  hoped  they  would  openly  and  de- 
claredly take  up  arms  against  this  city;  but  because,  Avhen  the 
Swiss  should  be  by  his  combinations  distracted  by  intestine  dis- 
cords, he  had  resolved  to  attack  us  suddenly,  as  persons  who 
should  then  be  left  exposed  to  his  mercy.  For  he  had  placed 
his  hopes  of  victory  in  the  belief  that  no  succour  would  come  to 
us  from  our  allies  the  Bernese.  But  the  divisions  among  the 
Swiss  being  healed,  he  was  deceived  in  his  calculations.  Add  to 
this  that  God  had  called  his  attention  to  another  quarter.  For 
his  subjects  who  inhabit  the  Alps,  though  they  had  recently 
been  pillaged  and  cruelly  maltreated  for  professing  the  gospel,' 
have  not  for  all  that  apostatized  from  the  true  faith,  and  when 
he  agam  sent  against  them  some  troops  of  soldiers,  by  whom 
these  unfortunate  people  were  driven  to  despair,  they  began  to 
defend  themselves  and  repel  his  tyrannical  violence.  For  they 
had  been  despoiled  of  all  their  fortunes,  their  houses  had  been 
burned  down,  and  they  themselves  with  their  wives  and  children 
had  taken  refuge  in  the  lurking  places  of  the  woods. 

Summoning  up  courage  then,  they  fought  a  second  and  even 
a  third  time  so  successfully,  that  the  forces  of  the  Duke  were  all 
cut  to  pieces.  Moreover  he  is  still  more  hardly  pressed  in 
another  quarter.  For  the  Turkish  fleet  is  just  coming  up,  and 
cannot  be  driven  back  from  the  port  of  Nice  which  is  situated 
in  his  dominions,  and  where  he  himself  very  narrowly  escaped 
being  captured  last  summer.  For  certain,  his  escort  was  partly 
slain — partly  taken — and  a  good  many  of  them  carried  off.  He 
himself  fled  in  great  trepidation  and  with  the  greatest  disgrace. 
To  all  this  add  that  he  is  so  desperately  poor  and  so  over- 
whelmed with  debt,  that  he  can  find  nowhere  a  creditor  to  lend 

'  By  a  brief  of  1560,  Pope  Pius  IV.  exhorted  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  take  the  severest 
measures  against  heresy.  Notwithstanding  the  generous  representations  of  Margaret 
of  France,  who  secretly  professed  the  new  opinions,  the  magistrates  were  ordered  to 
keep  an  eye  on  the  Reformed,  and  to  the  toleration  which  the  churches  of  Piedmont 
had  for  some  years  enjoyed,  a  most  bitter  persecution  succeeded.  Muston,  Israel  dee 
Alpes,  vol.  i.  passim  ;  and  Giles,  Perrin,  Leger,  etc. 


1561.]  THE   ADMIRAL    DE    COLIGNY.  175 

him  anything.  Thus  God  scatters  the  counsels  of  the  ungodly 
like  clouds.  We  are  on  our  guard  against  snares  however. 
Though  indeed  there  seems  nothing  to  be  feared  for  the  moment, 
and  we  trust  that  God  will  continue  to  be  the  guardian  of  an 
innocent  city  which  he  has  hitherto  protected. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  brother.  Viret  cordially  salutes  you, 
and  I  will  pray  from  the  heart  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  support  you  by  his 
power  even  to  the  end. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DLXXXVIII. — To  THE  AdxMiral  de  Coligny." 

An  account  and  solemn  disavowal  of  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise. 

Geneva,  16(7j  April,  1561. 

Monseigneur  : — I  have  been  apprised  by  my  brother,^  who 
is  at  present  among  you,  that  you  thought  it  fitting  and  desirable 
that  I  should  publish  a  printed  apology  to  clear  myself  of  the 
blame  which  has  been  laid  to  my  charge,  with  respect  to  the  en- 
terprise of  Amboise,  as  if  I  had  given  my  consent  to  it.  It  is 
true  that  long  before  this  time  and  from  several  quarters,  I  have 
been  required  and  solicited  to  do  this,  and  I  might  easily  have 
done  it,  if  I  had  consulted  nothing  but  my  own  person;  but  I 
have  forborne  for  two  reasons:  first,  many  persons  would  have 

'  In  a  note,  by  another  hand  :  "  He  clears  himself  of  participation  in  the  enterprise  of 
Amboise." 

As  a  bold  attempt  of  a  religious  minority  maddened  by  persecution,  the  conspiracy 
of  Amboise  was  the  first  act  of  the  political  and  religious  Protestantism  which  was 
henceforth  to  be  associated  with  the  Protestantism  of  faith  and  martj-rdom.  It  had 
for  agent  La  Renaudie,  for  instruments  the  Protestant  nobility,  for  secret  chief  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  for  motive  the  insupportable  tyranny  of  the  Guises  under  a  king  in 
bis  minority.  Coligny,  who  felt  an  aversion  for  the  employment  of  arms  in  the  cause 
of  religion,  and  who  wished  to  obtain  liberty  of  conscience  by  conciliation  and  the 
progress  of  time,  remained  a  stranger  to  this  enterprise.  Calvin,  who  was  accused  of 
having  been  the  instigator  of  it,  had  made  every  effort  to  prevent  it,  and  publicly  dis- 
owned it  by  bis  letters.     See  pp.  91,  and  106. 

*  Antony  Calvin,  then  entrusted  with  a  mission  in  France. 


176  THE   ADMIRAL   DE    COLIGNY.  [1561. 

esteemed  it  cruel  to  insult  the  calamity  of  poor  people  whose 
only  crime  was  to  have  been  actuated  by  inconsiderate  zeal ;  and 
next,  because  it  might  have  been  thought  that  I  bad  waited  for 
the  issue  in  order  to  square  my  sails  according  to  the  winds. 
Wherefore  I  have  chosen  to  suffer  patiently  to  be  wrongfully 
accused,  rather  than  to  manifest  an  excessive  anxiety  about  my 
reputation.  However  I  have  never  dissembled  my  opinion  about 
that  transaction,  when  I  was  questioned  respecting  it,  as  on  the 
present  occasion  I  am  quite  disposed,  if  you  wish,  Monseigneur, 
to  hear  a  brief  abstract  of  it,  to  lay  before  you  the  whole  truth. 
Seven  or  eight  months  before  the  event,  a  certain  person  en- 
trusted with  the  command  of  some  troops  consulted  me,  whether 
it  was  not  lawful  to  resist  the  tyranny  by  which  the  children  of 
God  were  then  oppressed,  and  what  means  might  be  employed 
for  that  purpose.  As  I  perceived  that  opinions  of  this  sort 
were  becoming  very  generally  current,  after  having  given  him  a 
peremptory  answer  that  he  should  abandon  all  thoughts  of  this 
kind,  I  strove  to  demonstrate  to  him  that  he  had  no  warrant  for 
such  conduct  according  to  God;  and  that  even  according  to  the 
world  such  measures  were  ill-concerted,  presumptuous,  and  could 
have  no  successful  issue.  He  was  at  no  loss  for  an  answer,  and 
even  for  one  that  had  a  certain  plausibility. 

For,  said  he,  nothing  was  to  be  attempted  against  the  king 
nor  against  his  authority,  but  all  they  aimed  at  was  only  to  ex- 
act a  government  according  to  the  laws  of  the  country  during 
the  minority  of  the  king.  In  the  mean  time  great  were  the 
lamentations  respecting  the  cruelties  that  were  practised  to 
abolish  the  Reformed  religion,  that  they  even  expected  hourly  a 
horrible  massacre  to  exterminate  all  the  poor  brethren.  I  re- 
plied simply  to  such  objections  that  if  a,  single  drop  of  blood 
were  spilled,  floods  of  it  would  deluge  Europe;  that  thus  it  were 
better  we  should  perish  a  hundred  times,  than  expose  Chris- 
tianity and  the  gospel  to  such  opprobrium.  I  admitted,  it  is 
true,  that  if  the  princes  of  the  blood  demanded  to  be  maintained 
in  their  rights  for  the  common  good,  and  if  the  Parliament  joined 
them  in  their  quarrel,  that  it  would  then  be  lawful  for  all  good 
subjects  to  lend  them  armed  assistance.  The  man  afterwards 
asked   me,  if  one    of   the    princes    of  the    blood,  though  not 


1661.]  THE    ADMIRAL    DE    COLIGNT.  177 

the  first  in  rank/  had  decided  upon  taking  such  a  step,  we  were 
not  then  warranted  to  support  him.  I  again  gave  him  an  answer 
in  the  negative  with  regard  to  this  supposition.  In  a  word  I 
adopted  so  decided  a  tone  in  condemning  all  his  proposals  that 
I  was  convinced  he  had  completely  abandoned  them.  And  that 
is  the  reason  why  I  did  not  breathe  a  syllable  on  the  subject, 
because  it  would  only  have  been  breeding  disturbances  to  no 
purpose. 

Some  time  after  that,  I  was  very  much  astonished  when  Re- 
naudie,'^  on  his  arrival  from  Paris,  told  me  that  he  had  been  en- 
trusted with  the  direction  of  such  an  enterprise,  demonstrating 
the  goodness  of  his  cause  by  all  the  sophisms  he  could  muster 
up.  What  is  more,  Monseigneur,  I  protest  that  he  represented 
you  as  mixed  up  with  the  affair.  Now,  having  always  known 
him  for  a  man  puffed  up  with  vanity  and  self-conceit,  I  con- 
stantly repelled  all  his  advances,  so  that  he  could  never  wring 
from  me  the  slightest  token  of  consent;  on  the  contrary,  I 
strove  to  turn  him  aside  from  these  follies  by  many  reasons 
which  it  would  be  too  tedious  to  enumerate.  Seeing  himself 
thus  frustrated  in  his  expectations,  he  plotted  in  secret  both  to 
seduce  those  whom  he  knew  to  have  but  little  judgment,  and 
also  to  empty  the  purses  of  those  who  would  have  been  but  lit- 
tle disposed  to  march  with  him.  All  this  was  done  in  small 
coteries  and  under  the  seal  of  an  oath  not  to  disclose  any  thing 
that  was  going  on.  Now,  there  was  one  who  being  rather  shy 
in  opening  his  purse  consulted  Master  Peter  Yiret,  and  revealed 
to  him  that  La  Renaudie,  soliciting  him  for  a  contribution,  had 
adjured  him  not  to  say  a  word  about  it  especially  to  me,  because 
I  was  unwilling  that  it  should  be  known  that  I  had  given  my  con- 
sent to  the  enterprise.     Master  Peter  Viret,  without  a  moment's 

'  Allusion  to  the  Prince  of  Cond6. 

'  Godfroi  du  Barry,  Seigneur  de  la  Renaudie,  chief  of  the  conspiracy.  "This 
man,"  says  Beza,  "  was  endowed  with  a  good  understanding.  For  a  process  that  had 
been  before  several  parliaments  between  him  and  Du  Tillet,  the  Recorder  of  the  Par- 
liament of  Paris,  he  had  been  very  badly  and  ignominiously  treated,  and  east  into  pri- 
son, from  which,  having  found  means  very  adroitly  to  make  his  escape,  he  had  retired 
to  the  territory  of  Berne,  in  Swisserland.  At  a  future  period  he  had  obtained  letters 
authorizing  a  rehearing  of  his  cause.  ...  By  these  letters  he  was  to  be  re-esta- 
blished in  the  possession  of  his  lands  and  honours.  He  returned  to  France  for  the 
homologation  of  the  said  letters,  and  for  his  other  affairs." — Hist.  Eccl.,  vol.  i.,  p.  250. 

23 


178  THE   ADMIRAL   DE    COLIGNY.  [1561. 

delay,  came  to  me,  as  in  duty  bound,  and  fortliwith.  I  begged 
Monsieur  Beza  to  send  for  the  man.  I  also  called  in  some 
witnesses,  in  whose  presence  I  sharply  reproved  him  for  having 
made  use  of  my  name  under  false  pretexts.  He  protested  and 
swore  that  he  had  done  no  such  thing,  confessing,  of  his  own 
accord,  that  if  he  had  spoken  as  he  was  represented  to  have 
done,  he  would  have  been  the  most  shameless  of  liars,  since  he 
had  heard  from  me  the  very  contrary  of  what  was  there  re- 
ported. He  who  had  made  the  report  was  struck  dumb.  How- 
ever, these  intrigues  were  still  continued.  Even  when  La  Re- 
naudie  had  withdrawn  to  the  Bernese  territory  where  he  had 
his  habitation,  he  gained  over  some  who  ceased  not  to  attract 
others.  Hereupon  I  endeavoured  as  well  as  I  could  to  arrest 
the  progress  of  the  evil.  When  I  called  before  me  those  who 
had  been  inveigled  into  this  wild  project,  every  one  denied  it. 
Nevertheless  they  marched  away,  protesting  all  the  time  that  it 
was  to  prevent  all  disturbance.  So  that  seeing  every  thing  go 
wrong,  I  bitterly  lamented,  and  frequently  I  was  heard  to  utter 
these  words :  Alas  !  I  never  thought  to  live  to  see  the  day  in 
which  we  should  have  lost  all  credit  among  those  who  are  re- 
nowned for  their  fidelity.  Is  it  possible  that  the  church  of 
Geneva  should  be  thus  despised  by  her  own  children  ?  In  one 
word,  during  all  that  time  I  did  nothing  but  groan.  The  coun- 
cil being  apprised  that  some  enterprise  was  going  forward, 
although  they  were  as  yet  ignorant  of  its  nature,  caused  to 
be  proclaimed  by  sound  of  trumpet  that  no  man  should  stir, 
and  issued  similar  prohibitions  throughout  all  private  houses. 
Wherefore  none  left  this  city  except  clandestinely,  and  in  small 
numbers,  so  that  we  did  not  know  the  mischief  that  they  were 
secretly  brewing.  In  fact,  I  looked  upon  it  altogether  as  a  kind 
of  childish  game  they  were  playing,  and  when  I  wished  to  cheer 
up  my  melancholy  a  little,  I  used  to  say  that  it  was  a  crusade 
of  knights  errant,  or  of  those  of  the  round  table  who  were  in 
verity  bewitched.  There  is  one  who  is  at  this  moment  my  wit- 
ness before  God  whom  you  have  known,  Monseigneur,  and  whom 
I  have  no  need  to  name.'     When  at  first  they  broke  the  affair 

'  The  Seigneur  de  Villemongis-Bricquemant.     He  had  taken  up  his  residence  some 
time  after  his  wife,  at  Geneva. — Bolsec,  Vie  de  Calvin,  C,  15.     Condemned  to  lose. 


1561.]  THE    ADMIRAL    DE    COLIGNY.  179" 

to  him,  he  only  turned  it  into  ridicule,  and  from  the  respect  he 
entertained  for  me  flatly  and  laconically  refused  to  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  it.  Afterwards,  contrary  to  his  natural  cha- 
racter, which  was  frank  and  straight  forward,  he  consulted  me 
whether  he  should  not  undertake  a  journey  to  settle  some  mat- 
ters with  his  brother  who  had  reduced  him  to  great  straits.  I 
have  no  doubt  but  he  was  swayed  by  this  motive,  but  he  was 
also  actuated  by  another  consideration,  namely,  that  of  not  be- 
ing held  for  cowardly,  especially  as  La  Renaudie  had  boasted  to 
him  that  you,  Monseigneur,  were  favourable  to  the  undertaking. 
I  told  him  that  if  he  would  take  my  advice  he  ought  not  to  go. 
As  he  aflSrmed  and  promised  that  he  would  avoid  aM  contact 
with  the  conspirators,  and  stand  aloof  from  their  projects,  I 
made  use  of  these  very  words  : — "  I  know  you ;  you  will  not 
stand  aloof  from  it  when  once  you  are  on  the  spot.  Remain, 
then,  where  you  are."  It  is  true,  he  made  one  exception  to 
his  promise,  and  declared  that  if  you  commanded  him  he  should 
not  dare  to  refuse.  Whereupon  I  replied : — "  Have  you  pro- 
fited so  little  in  the  school  of  God  as  to  do  evil  in  order  to 
please  men  ?  On  the  contrary,  the  greatest  service  you  could 
render  the  seigneur,  to  whom  you  bear  so  great  an  affection, 
would  be  to  prevent  him  from  meddling  in  this  business,  and 
tell  him  frankly  that  I  send  him  word,  in  the  name  of  God,  that 
he  does  wrong  if  he  allows  himself  to  be  entangled  in  so  disor- 
derly a  proceeding."  However,  I  was  not  very  uneasy  on  that 
score,  because  I  was  persuaded  that  there  was  no  foundation  for 
such  surmises,  and  that  the  brazen-faced  bragger  who  bad  made 
use  of  your  name  was  screening  himself  under  false  colours. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  this  poor  seigneur  having  quitted  me  five  or 
six  times,  almost  overcome  by  my  arguments,  at  last  told  me 
that  he  could  never  be  at  rest  till  he  had  undertaken  a  journey 
to  see  you ;  and,  in  truth,  I  believe  that  such  was  his  intention. 
Nevertheless,  I  had  conceived  such  apprehensions  of  what  took 
place,  that  I  allowed  him  to  set  out  with  much  regret.     Nay, 

his  life  on  the  scaflfolrl,  after  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise,  he  dipped  his  hands  in  the 
blood  of  his  decapitated  brethren,  and  lifting  them  up  towards  heaven  exclaimed  : — 
"Almighty  God  I  there  is  the  innocent  blood  of  thy  children,  and  thou  wilt  avenge 
it." — D'Aubigne,  Hist.  Univ.,  vol.  i.,  p.  94. 


180  THE   ADMIRAL    DE   COLIGNY.  [1561. 

when  he  came  to  bid  me  farewell,  in  holding  out  my  hand  to  him, 
I  turned  my  back  upon  him  to  show  what  displeasure  I  felt  in 
my  heart. 

If  I  should  be  asked  why  I  did  not  more  formally  oppose 
the  proceedings,  I  answer,  that  first  of  all  I  thought  there  was 
no  great  necessity  for  doing  so,  because  I  despised  the  enter- 
prise as  a  childish  affair.  And,  in  fact,  I  always  said  that  if 
the  deed  displeased  me,  the  person  of  La  Renaudie  disgusted 
me  still  more.  I  held  him  for  a  frivolous  person ;  I  thought 
his  project  would  fall  to  pieces  of  itself.  Since  I  suspected  no 
danger,  I  was  unwilling  to  begin  skirmishing  that  I  might  not 
give  rise  to  great  troubles,  or  kindle  a  fire  that  might  spread  too 
far  ;  for  it  was  to  be  presumed  that  many  poor,  innocent  persons 
would  pay  for  the  rash  presumption  of  others.  This  reason 
kept  me  back ;  I  wished  to  spare  the  innocent  whom  I  could 
not  distinguish  from  the  guilty ;  besides,  I  knew  of  no  one  to 
whom  I  could  address  myself  to  set  things  to  rights.  Never- 
theless, Monsieur  Coignet,  who  is  the  king's  ambassador  to  the 
lAgues,  knows  what  I  then  said  to  him  about  the  business.  So 
far  was  I  from  wishing  to  swim  between  two  currents,  or  dis- 
simulate from  craftiness,  and  still  farther  from  wishing  to  gra- 
tify the  ardour  of  those  who  were  rushing,  of  their  own  accord, 
to  their  ruin.  For  I  always  declared,  without  any  reserve,  that 
if  their  folly  succeeded,  I  should  be  the  most  degraded  man  in 
the  world,  as  having  betrayed  the  church,  thrown  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  God's  work,  opposed  myself  to  liberty,  etc.,  etc.; 
since  it  is  clear  that  I  despised  all  these  imputations,  and  pre- 
ferred to  be  held  for  a  poltroon  and  a  coward  rather  than  give 
loose  reins  to  what  I  condemned.  You  can  judge,  Monseig- 
neur,  why  I  was  constrained  to  hold  my  peace,  or,  at  least,  not 
to  make  any  great  outcry.  And  yet  it  is  an  undoubted  fact 
that  at  that  time  people  heard  me  preach  several  sermons,  in 
which  I  combated  their  cause  with  as  much  vehemence  as  I  was 
master  of.  This  can  easily  be  verified,  inasmuch  as  these  ser- 
mons were  copied  word  for  word  as  I  delivered  them  with  the 
date  of  the  month  and  of  the  day,  whence,  it  is  evident,  that  I 
did  not  play  a  double  part,  nor  avail  myself  of  silence  to  spring 
a  mine  under  ground. 


1561.]  THE    ADMIRAL    DE    COLIGNY.  181 

The  result  having  turned  out  as  every  one  knows,  I  was  in 
deep  distress,  as  was  to  be  expected,  but  was  by  no  means  sur- 
prised, as  if  any  thing  unforeseen  had  happened,  because  I  had 
constantly  predicted  the  issue,  protesting  that  I  feared  to  be 
recognized  in  the  end  for  too  true  a  prophet.  Had  it  been  in 
my  power  to  adopt  better  measures,  I  should  not  have  spared 
my  pains,  and  I  have  often  completely  defeated  other  intrigues 
which  had  spread  very  widely  and  without  apprising  a  single 
person  in  the  kingdom  of  them.  However,  I  cannot  prevent 
people  from  accusing  me  in  that  quarter  where  I  cannot  be 
heard,  but  it  suffices  me  to  have  God  for  my  voucher,  and  all 
those  who  have  intercourse  with  me  for  my  witnesses ;  so  that 
wherever  they  shall  be  pleased  to  give  me  a  hearing,  I  shall 
open  my  mouth  to  show  that  they  do  me  great  wrong  who  charge 
me  with  accusations  so  calumnious.  Since  that  time,  when  the 
King  of  Navarre  begged  me  of  his  own  good  Avill  and  sponta- 
neous movement  to  send  to  him  M.  Beza,  he  knows  that  my  in- 
clinations pointed  at  no  other  object  than  the  public  tranquillity 
of  France,  and  the  security  of  the  king.  But,  besides,  what 
he  knows,  I  have  good  witnesses  who  can  prove  that  by  indirect 
means  I  have  endeavoured  to  cool  those  whose  tempers  were 
too  much  inflamed.  If  it  please  certain  persons,  either  from 
malice  or  any  other  cause,  to  impute  to  me  all  the  evil  that  is 
done  at  a  great  distance  from  me,  what  should  I  do  except  to 
entreat  them  to  make  inquiries  and  learn  how  the  matter  stands? 
For  when  the  truth  shall  be  brought  to  light,  I  shall  have  where- 
with to  confound  all  evil  disposed  people  who  would  like  to 
blame  me.  Excesses  have  been  committed  in  Provence.'  Some 
have  taken  up  arms,  several  persons  have  been  killed,  but  it 
remains  to  be  proved  that  I  had  any  secret  understanding  with 
the  authors,  if  I  had  ever  seen  or  known  them,  if  we  had  ever 
communicated  together  by  letters  or  messages.  Now  it  will  be 
found  that  I  have  no  less  condemned  all  their  acts  than  I  had 

'  Charles  de  Monbrun  had  drawn  his  sword  in  Dauphine  and  the  county  Vonaissin, 
in  the  defence  of  religion.  The  assassination  of  a  Protestant  nobleman  of  Castelane, 
Antony  do  Mouvans,  set  the  whole  of  Provence  in  flames.  Paul  de  Mouvans,  the 
brother  of  Antony,  not  being  able  to  obtain  justice  for  this  murder,  which  had  been 
accomplished  under  atrocious  circumstances,  took  up  arms,  and  sacked  the  whole 
country  round  Aix.— Beza,  Iliet.  Eccl.  vol.  i.,  pp.  374-383.     De  Thou,  Lib.  xxv. 


182  THE    ADMIRAL    DE    COLIGNY.  [1561. 

those  which  had  taken  place  previously.  We  have  also  heard 
something  of  a  tumult  that  had  fallen  out  at  Lyons  ;^  but,  how- 
ever that  may  be,  the  origin  of  all  these  disturbances  came  from 
elsewhere,  and  had  it  only  depended  on  me,  this  thoughtless  con- 
duct would  have  been  quietly  put  an  end  to.  However,  I  have 
never  seen  the  man  to  whom  the  fault  was  attributed,  and  if 
thoughtless  conduct  there  was,  it  is  not  for  me  who  resisted  it 
to  bear  the  blame  of  it.  Nay,  because  at  that  time  the  gentle- 
men of  Geneva  merely  heard  it  whispered  that  certain  persons 
were  making  a  sudden  rising,  they  strictly  enjoined  all  the  in- 
habitants of  our  city  not  to  stir,  and  notwithstanding  this,  peo- 
ple have  not  ceased  to  say  that  fifteen  hundred  horsemen  had 
gone  from  here.  But  it  would  have  required  a  very  piercing 
sight  to  count  what  never  appeared.  I  also  allow  people  to  say 
that  in  this  town  punishments  were  inflicted  on  those  who  had 
put  themselves  too  prominently  forward,  though  they  did  so 
rather  from  simplicity  than  evil  intentions.  You  have  here, 
then,  Monseigneur,  a  brief  abstract  of  all  that  concerns  me  ;  that 
is  to  say,  the  naked  truth  of  the  facts  by  which  you  will  judge 
in  your  wisdom  whether  it  would  be  expedient,  in  order  to  clear 
my  own  character,  (a  thing  by  no  means  difficult,)  that  1  should 
aggravate  the  cause  of  those  whom  I  wish  to  protect.  For  I 
am  astonished  at  seeing  worthy  people  of  great  piety  who  have 
been  circumvented,  because  the  warning  which  I  gave  them  had 
been  maliciously  kept  back  from  them.  For  the  rest,  I  ought 
to  be  on  my  guard  against  being  induced  by  ambition  to  justify 
myself  in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  them  injury  or  prejudice ; 
nay,  I  desire,  even  if  all  the  evil  should  fall  on  my  own  head, 
that  the  scandal  of  it  should  be  buried  in  oblivion. 

Monseigneur,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  I  will  pray  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you  in 
his  holy  keeping,  to  increase  you  in  all  virtues,  and  govern  you 
by  his  Spirit,  even  to  the  end. 

[Fr.  Orig.,  corrected  by  Calvin. — Library  of  Paris.     Dupuy,  102.] 

'  "  In  the  year  1661,  those  of  Lyons  seeing  how  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the 
kingdom,  and  even  at  the  court  of  the  king,  people  publicly  preached,  took  courage 
to  do  the  same." — Hiat.  Eccl.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  215.  These  first  assemblies  gave  rise  to 
some  sedition 


1561.]  JOHN   KNOX.  183 


DXC— To  John  Knox.^ 

Explanations  on  the  subject  of  a  letter — Expression  of  satisfaction  at  the  progress  of 
the  Reformation  in  Scotland  and  of  sympathy  for  a  domestic  affliction. 

Geneva,  23d  Aj)rU,  1561. 

About  four  montlis  previous  to  the  receipt  of  your  last  letter, 
I  had  received  from  you  another,  in  -which  you  took  great  pains 
to  exculpate  yourself,  because  I  felt  offended  at  being  consulted 
a  second  time  by  your  friends  and  countrymen,  about  certain 
questions  respecting  which  I  had  already  given  them  an  answer. 
Here  is  a  correct  statement  of  the  case.  If  they  had  not  pro- 
mised that  my  letter  should  arrive  in  safety  at  its  destination,  I 
should  at  least  have  preserved  a  copy  of  it.  It  was  their  fault, 
and  in  consequence  of  their  pledging  themselves  rather  incon- 
siderately, that  I  took  no  better  precautions.  When  then,  some 
time  afterwards,  they  informed  me  that  the  answer  about  which 
they  had  asserted  1  had  nothing  to  fear,  had  completely  mis- 
carried, and  demanded  that  I  should  a  second  time  undertake 
a  new  labour,  I  confess  I  was  displeased,  and  I  answered  them 
that  I  had  a  suspicion,  that  what  they  asked  was  only  with  the 
intention  of  insidiously  sounding  me.  But  lest  you  should  be 
surprised  that  I  answered  them  so  harshly,  know  that  I  had 
previously  learned  from  a  sure  source  that  the  counsel  which  I 
had  given  them  was  not  to  their  liking.  When  I  knew  then 
that  I  had  by  no  means  given  them  satisfaction,  I  not  unnaturally 
conjectured  that  they  desired  to  suppress  what  displeased  them, 
and  returned  to  me  to  elicit  something  more  in  accordance  with 
their  wishes;  but  that  you  acted  with  any  degree  of  dissimula- 
tion in  the  matter,  I  never  said  nor  even  suspected.  And  even 
at  the  moment  all  offence  dropped  so  entirely  from  my  mind  that 
there  was  not  the  least  need  of  making  any  apology.     But  it 

'  There  exists  but  a  small  number  of  letters  exchanged  between  Knox  and  Calvin. 
Those  of  the  Scotch  Reformer  alluded  to  in  Calvin's  answer,  have  been  lost  and  the 
letter?  of  the  Reformer  of  Geneva  have  not  had  a  better  fate.  Dr.  McOrie,  the  learned 
historian  of  Knox,  affords  no  explanation  of  the  loss  of  this  precious  correspondence, 
which  leaves  in  history  a  void  so  much  to  be  regretted. 


184  JOHN    KNOX.  [1561. 

grieves  me  that  anything  which  has  fallen  from  my  lips  should 
have  made  such  an  impression  on  your  mind,  as  to  lead  you  to 
suppose  that  you  were  taxed  with  craft  or  bad  faith,  things 
which  I  judge  the  most  alien  to  your  character.  Banish  then 
that  apprehension  or  that  inquietude. 

I  come  now  to  your  letter,  which  was  lately  brought  to  me  by 
a  pious  brother  who  has  come  here  to  pursue  his  studies.  I  re- 
joice exceedingly,  as  you  may  easily  suppose,  that  the  gospel 
has  made  such  rapid  and  happy  progress  among  you.  That 
they  should  have  stirred  up  violent  opposition  against  you  is 
nothing  new.  But  the  power  of  God  is  the  more  conspicuously 
displayed  in  this,  that  no  attacks  either  of  Satan  or  of  the  un- 
godly have  hitherto  prevented  you  from  advancing  with  tri- 
umphant constancy  in  the  right  course,  though  you  could  never 
have  been  equal  to  the  task  of  resistance,  unless  He  who  is 
superior  to  all  the  world  had  held  out  to  you  from  heaven  a 
helping  hand.  With  regard  to  ceremonies,  I  trust,  even  should 
you  displease  many,  that  you  will  moderate  your  rigour.  Of 
course  it  is  your  duty  to  see  that  the  church  be  purged  of  all 
defilements  which  flow  from  error  and  superstition.  For  it  be- 
hoves us  to  strive  sedulously  that  the  mysteries  of  God  be  not 
polluted  by  the  admixture  of  ludicrous  or  disgusting  rites.  But 
with  this  exception,  you  are  well  aware  that  certain  things 
should  be  tolerated  even  if  you  do  not  quite  approve  of  them. 
I  am  deeply  afflicted,  as  you  may  well  believe,  that  the  nobles 
of  your  nation  are  split  into  factions,'  and  it  is  not  without 
reason  that  you  are  more  distressed  and  tormented,  because 
Satan  is  now  plotting  in  the  bosom  of  your  church,  than  you 
were  formerly  by  the  commotions  stirred  up  by  the  French. 
But  God  is  to  be  intreated  that  he  may  heal  this  evil  also.     Here 


'Among  the  noblemen  the  most  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  were  the 
Earls  of  Arran  and  Murray  who  maintained  an  intercourse  with  Calvin  :  "  The  Earl 
of  Arran  would  have  written  to  you  but  he  was  absent.  James  the  brother  of  the 
queen  salutes  you.  The  old  man  is  the  only  one  of  those  who  frequent  the  court  who 
sets  himself  against  its  impiety.  And  yet  even  he  is  fascinated  as  well  as  the  others, 
inasmuch  us  he  fears  to  hurl  down  by  violent  means  that  idol."  Knoxiis  Calvino, 
24th  October,  1561.  In  this  same  letter,  Knox  announced  the  re-establishment  of  the 
mass  in  the  chapel  of  Mary  Stuart  at  Holyrood,  and  asked  if  it  was  not  the  duty  of 
the  Reformed,  to  abolish  this  last  relio  of  superstition  in  Scotland. 


1561.]  CHRISTOPHER   GOODMAN  185 

■we  are  exposed  to  many  dangers.  Nothing  but  our  confidence 
in  the  divine  protection  exempts  us  from  trepidation,  though  we 
are  not  free  from  fears. 

Farewell,  distinguished  sir  and  honoured  brother.  May  the 
Lord  always  stand  by  you,  govern,  protect,  and  sustain  you 
by  his  power.  Your  distress  for  the  loss  of  your  wife  justly 
commands  my  deepest  sympathy.'  Persons  of  her  merit  are  not 
often  to  be  met  with.  But  as  you  have  well  learned  from  what 
source  consolation  for  your  sorrow  is  to  be  sought,  I  doubt  not 
but  you  endure  with  patience  this  calamity.  You  will  salute 
very  courteously  all  your  pious  brethren.  My  colleagues  also 
beg  me  to  present  to  you  their  best  respects. 
\_Calvm's  Lat.  corresp.,  Opera,  ix.  p.  201.] 


DXCI. — To  Christopher  Goodman.^ 

Pious  admonitions  on  tho  occasion  of  the  death  of  Knox's  wife. 

Geneva,  23c;  .4 ^jiriV,  1561. 

Your  letter  was  for  many  reasons  exceedingly  agreeable  to 
me.  The  excuses  which  you  make  for  your  long  silence  were 
quite  superfluous,  for  I  am  not  wont  to  exact  from  my  friends 
the  task  of  writing  to  me,  and  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that 

'  Knox  had  just  lost  his  first  wife,  Margery  Bowes,  who  had  been  tho  companion 
of  his  exile  on  the  continent.  This  domestic  grief  was  announced  to  Calvin  by 
Goodman  in  a  letter  of  the  13th  February,  1561.  "  Our  brother  Knox  has  just  been 
bereaved  of  his  wife.  He  himself,  feeble  in  body  but  robust  in  mind,  never  flinches 
from  labours.  His  arrival  in  Scotland  was  very  seasonable,  and  his  presence  there 
just  now  is  not  less  necessary.  I  pray  that  the  course  of  his  life  may  bo  prolonged 
for  years,  that  his  services  may  profit  his  country  and  tho  church."  (Vol.  de  Geneve, 
113.)  Knox  remained  a  widower  two  years,  and  married  in  166-1  Margaret  Stewart 
a  daughter  of  Lord  Ochiltree. 

'  See  vol.  iii.  p.  37.  Associated  with  the  vicissitudes  of  Knox's  life  on  the  continent, 
Goodman  returned  in  1559  to  England.  He  repaired  to  Scotland  the  year  following, 
and  united  his  efiForts  with  those  of  the  Lords  of  the  Congregation  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Reformation  in  his  country.  McCrie,  Life  of  Knox,  1847,  notes,  p.  408. 
In  a  letter  to  Calvin  already  quoted,  ho  drew  a  gloomy  picture  of  the  state  of  Scot- 
land under  the  authority  of  Mary  Stuart :  "Impiety,  pride,  avarice,  and  lu.xury,  have 
seized  upon  nearly  all,  and  abound  in  all  places.  People  find  in  fine  what  fruits  they 
reap  from  the  female  government  they  have  set  up  and  extolled  to  the  skies."  Geneve, 
vol.  113. 

2-4 


186  THE   CHURCH   OF   AIX.  [1561. 

I  shall  not  cease  to  hold  a  place  in  your  affections.  Still  I  re- 
ceive those  excuses  with  much  pleasure,  because  they  are  so 
many  proofs  of  the  tender  solicitude  you  experience  lest  I 
should  fancy  myself  neglected  by  you.  Though  I  am  not  a 
little  grieved  to  hear  that  our  brother  Knox  has  been  bereaved 
of  his  affectionate  wife,  I  rejoice  nevertheless  that  he  has  so  far 
mastered  his  affliction  as  not  to  suffer  it  to  prevent  him  from 
strenuously  discharging  his  duty  to  Christ  and  the  church.  It 
is  no  small  relief  to  him  that  he  has  found  in  you  a  most  faith- 
ful and  very  fitting  fellow-workman ;  nor  in  truth  do  I  see  why, 
in  so  great  a  penury  of  labourers,  you  can  possibly  abandon  your 
present  sphere  of  usefulness.  On  the  contrary,  that  penury, 
which  you  so  justly  deplore,  ought  to  stir  up  both  you  and 
others  to  continued  and  courageous  exertion.  And  if  necessity 
has  been  styled  the  sharpest  spur  to  activity,  it  ought  certainly 
to  be  so  in  an  especial  manner  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  in  the 
accomplishment  of  which  we  know  that  our  efforts  will  not  be 
unavailing,  however  much  the  zeal  of  the  children  of  the  world 
may  often  be  defeated  in  the  attainment  of  its  object.  It  is  my 
advice  then,  most  excellent  brother,  that  you  should  persevere 
until  at  last,  due  provision  being  made  for  its  ministers,  God 
shall  more  firmly  establish  the  Scottish  Church. 

Farewell,  most  worthy  sir  and  honoured  brother.     May  the 
Lord  direct  you  by  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  fortitude,  and  bless 
all  your  labours.     My  fellow-pastors  salute  you. 
[Calvin's  Lat.  corresp.,  Opera,  ix.  p.  150.] 


DXCII. — To  THE  Church  of  Aix.' 

Duty  of  Christians  to  endure  persecution  without  murmuring   and  without  resist- 
ance. 

Geneva,  Is*  3Iay,  1561. 

Dearly  beloved  Seigneurs  and  Brethren  : — Be  persuaded 
all  of  you,  that  having  heard  of  the  extortions  and   acts  of 

'  To  the  brethren  of  Aix  in  Provence.     The  Church  of  Aix,  one  of  the  first  of  that 
country  of  Provence,  which  saw  spring  up  in  a  single  year  the  churches  of  Cahrieres 


1561.]  THE   CHUKCH    OF   AIX.  1S7 

violence  that  have  been  committed  against  several  of  you,  we 
are  touched  with  such  compassion  as  the  fraternal  tie  which  binds 
us  together  requires.  This  we  protest  that  you  may  not  suppose 
that,  because  we  are  in  peace  and  removed  from  these  blows,  we 
therefore  are  bolder  in  exhorting  you  to  patience,  seeing  that 
the  evil  does  not  aflfect  ourselves.  Now  though  sorrow  is  common 
to  us  with  all  mankind,  yet  it  is  our  duty  to  restrain  and  bridle 
it,  and  give  such  counsels  to  one  another  as  that  He  who  has  all 
authority  over  us  may  be  obeyed  in  simplicity.  We  are  well 
aware  that  it  is  a  plausible  and  specious  opinion  that  it  is  lawful 
for  us  to  avenge  ourselves  on  a  mutinous  populace,  because  this 
is  not  resisting  the  order  of  justice ;  nay,  that  the  laws  them- 
selves arm  both  great  and  small  against  robbers.  But  whatever 
reasons  and  sophistical  excuses  may  be  alleged,  still  our  whole 
duty  consists  in  practising  the  lesson  which  the  sovereign  Master 
has  taught  us,  viz :  to  possess  our  souls  in  patience.  And  in 
truth  it  is  the  best  and  safest  defence  we  can  have  to  conceal 
ourselves  under  his  shadow  when  we  are  assailed  by  such  storms. 
Now  it  is  by  this  resisting  evil  by  force  of  arms  that  we  pre- 
vent him  from  coming  to  our  relief.  And  it  is  for  that  reason 
St.  Paul,  to  moderate  our  passions,  exhorts  us  to  give  place  to 
anger,  relying  on  the  promise  which  God  has  given  to  sustain 
and  protect  his  people  after  their  enemies  shall  have  vented  all 
their  rage.  If  what  has  taken  place  astonishes  you,  wait  till 
God  show  you  by  examples  what  has  always  been  known ;  viz : 
not  only  that  the  blood  of  the  faithful  will  cry  out  for  vengeance, 
but  will  form  a  good  and  fertilizing  seed  for  the  multiplication 

and  Merindol,  and  sixty  churches  organized  between  the  Durance,  the  Rhone,  and  the 
sea,  had  at  first  for  its  pastor  a  nobleman  of  Dauphine,  Claude  de  la  Boissiere.  It 
grew  up  in  trials  and  was  confirmed  by  martyrdom.  The  Sire  de  Flassans,  consul  of 
the  city  in  1561,  having  brought  the  authorities  to  decide  that  the  Reform  should  be 
expelled,  "that  was  the  cause,"  says  Theodore  Beza,  "that  not  only  several  noble- 
men and  other  notable  persons  were  expelled  with  great  violence,  but  also  that  some 
were  murdered  by  the  fury  of  the  population."  Hist.  EccL,  vol.  i.  p.  891.  It  was 
under  these  distressing  circumstances  that  Calvin,  addressing  the  persecuted  church, 
recommended  to  it  patience  and  submission.  His  voice  was  listened  to.  We  read  in 
the  answer  of  the  Church  of  Aix  to  Calvin  (29th  May  1561) :  "  May  Ood  give  us 
grace  in  the  mean  time  to  keep  in  memory  and  observe  your  holy  admonitions,  which 
with  great  good  will  we  all  desire  to  hear,  learn,  and  submit  to,  as  much  as  it  shall  be 
in  our  power.  May  the  Lord  reward  you  for  your  labour,  and  bless  you  with  every 
tlessing."     (Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  196.) 


188  ,  BULLINGEK.  [1561. 

of  the  church.  It  is  not  without  a  cause  that  the  Scriptures  in- 
Bist  so  much  on  our  correcting  our  hastiness,  when  we  reflect 
how  difficult  it  is  for  us  to  do  God  the  honour  of  leaving  him  to 
do  his  own  work  in  his  own  manner,  and  not  according  to  our 
wishes.  For  though  we  have  been  so  often  taught  that  he  will 
build  up  his  church  in  a  miraculous  manner,  we  cannot  suffer 
him  to  employ  either  stone  or  morter  without  gnashing  our  teeth 
if  he  does  not  proceed  according  to  our  likings.  Now  the  times 
are  such  that  we  should  labour  on  the  one  hand  and  suffer  on 
the  other.  We  call  it  labouring  to  bear  ourselves  manfully  and 
overlook  all  obstacles  when  the  question  is  to  do  our  duty.  For 
it  were  better  a  hundred  fold  to  die  than  to  flinch.  But  that 
does  not  prevent  us  from  suffering  with  patience,  and,  guided  by 
a  spirit  of  meekness,  from  defeating  by  our  silent  endurance  all 
the  furious  attacks  of  our  enemies.  If  you  accept  this  counsel, 
we  have  assured  confidence  in  God,  that  ere  long  his  hand  will 
appear  as  your  safeguard.  Whereupon,  dearly  beloved  seigneurs 
and  brethren,  we  entreat  him  to  conduct  you  in  a  spirit  of  prudence 
and  virtue,  and  make  you  prosper  in  all  good  to  the  end  that 
his  name  be  more  and  more  glorified  in  you. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.] 


DXCIIL— To    BULLINGER.l 

Intrigues  of  Vergerio  in  Germany — Portrait  of  the  King  of  Navarre — Progress  of 
the  gospel — Ardour  of  the  French  Protestants — Popular  massacres. 

Geneva,  2Uh  Moy,  1561. 

I  do  not  deny,  my  dearest  sir  and  honoured  brother,  that  my 
negligence  is  sometimes  the  cause  why  I  write  to  you  less  fre- 

'  The  year  1561,  signalized  by  the  first  edicts  of  toleration,  marks  the  culminating 
point  of  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  in  France.  From  all  quarters  of  the  king- 
dom they  wrote  to  Calvin  to  ask  him  for  new  ministers,  and  Geneva  was  incapable 
of  answering  so  many  multiplied  demands.  The  court  itself,  by  the  impulsion  of  the 
able  but  fickle  Catharine  de  Medieis,  showed  itself  favourable  to  the  cause  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  thought  of  bringing  together  the  preachers  of  the  two  religions  in  a  solemn  con- 
ference. There  was  for  a  moment  even  talk  of  calling  Calvin  to  Paris.  But  the  part 
of  conciliator  between  the  two  rival  churches  did  not  suit  the  austere  Reformer,  and 
was  in  vain  attempted  by  Th.  Beza. 


1561.]  BULLINGER.  189 

quently  than  I  ought.  I  may  assert,  however,  with  truth,  that 
three  days  never  elapse  without  my  feeling  a  desire  to  write  to 
you  about  something,  if  an  opportunity  presented  itself;  but  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  a  month  no  one  left  this  for  your  city 
to  whom  I  could  safely  entrust  a  letter.  An  envoy  of  the  king, 
indeed,  in  consequence  of  our  old  friendship,  liberally  offered 
me  his  services.  But  1  can  hardly  bring  myself  to  trust  him, 
unless  I  were  pressed  by  a  more  urgent  necessity ;  for,  though 
he  is  a  man  of  probity,  the  office  which  he  discharges  often 
compels  him  to  forget  what  is  due  to  Christ.  At  present,  I  was 
about  to  write  to  you  at  greater  length  by  Liner,  if  my  health 
had  permitted ;  but  a  pain  in  my  side  was  too  violent  to  admit 
of  my  making  any  effort.  Vergerio,  from  mercenary  motives, 
has  procured  an  embassy  for  his  nephew,  in  order  to  throw  every 
thing  into  confusion.  I  wish  you  could  impartially  see,  as  I  do, 
the  effrontery  of  that  busybody.  Either  there  will  be  no  reli- 
gion solidly  established  in  France,  or  the  chief  points  of  our 
doctrine  will  be  maintained  intact.  I  wish  we  could  have  as 
much  confidence  in  the  final  regulation  of  the  business.  The 
King  of  Navarre  is  now  as  sluggish  and  versatile,  as  he  has  been 
always  a  liberal  promisor ;  he  lacks  good  faith  and  constancy. 
For  though  now  and  then  he  seems  to  show  some  sparks  of  a 
manly  temper,  and  even  flashes  out  into  zeal,  yet  a  moment 
after  this  flame  becomes  extinct.  And  when  this  fit  comes  on 
him,  from  time  to  time,  he  is  as  much  to  be  feared  as  an  advo- 
cate who  betrays  his  cause.  Add  to  that,  he  is  wholly  taken 
up  with  amorous  intrigues,  and  a  woman  versed  in  these  arts  has 
found  among  the  ladies  of  the  court  wherewith  completely  to 
entrap  him.  This  story  has  got  wind,  and  is  the  theme  of  the 
conversation  of  all  the  young  gallants.  Respecting  these  things 
I  have  reproved  him  with  as  much  freedom  and  sincerity  as  I 
■would  have  any  individual  of  my  own  flock.  Beza  has  handled 
him  with  not  more  reserve.  But  in  listening  patiently  to  our 
reproaches,  and  without  flying  into  a  passion,  he  fancies  he  has 
sufficiently  acquitted  himself  of  his  duty.  The  Admiral  is  the 
only  one  on  whose  fidelity  we  can  count.  A  colleague  of  ours, 
also,  is  most  active  in  stirring  up  his  zeal.  This  colleague  I 
sent  to  him  without  consulting  any  body,  lest  any  part  of  the 


190  BULLINGER.  [1561. 

odium  of  the  transaction  should  fall  upon  our  senate.  He 
preaches  publicly  to  crowded  audiences  at  no  great  distance 
from  the  palace.  All  our  adversaries  keep  bawling  that  such 
audacity  is  not  to  be  tolerated.  The  queen  entreats  him,  coax- 
ingly,  to  desist,  but  to  no  purpose.  He  has  determined  to  brave 
every  thing  rather  than  flinch.  The  queen,  moreover,  did  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  all  remedies  would  be  useless  unless  I  were 
sent  for.  (It  is  incredible  with  what  fervent  zeal  our  brethren 
are  urging  forward  greater  progress.  Pastors  are  everywhere 
asked  for  from  among  us  with  as  much  eagerness  as  the  priestly 
functions  are  made  the  object  of  ambition  among  the  Papists. 
Those  who  are  in  quest  of  them  besiege  my  doors,  and  pay  their 
court  to  me  as  if  I  held  a  levee.  They  vie  with  one  another  in 
pious  rivalry,  as  if  the  condition  of  Christ's  kingdom  were  in  a 
state  of  undisturbed  tranquillity.  On  our  part,  we  desire  as 
much  as  it  lies  in  our  power  to  comply  with  their  wishes,  but 
our  stock  of  preachers  is  almost  exhausted.  We  have  even 
been  obliged  to  sweep  the  workshops  of  the  working  classes  to 
find  individuals  with  some  tincture  of  letters  and  pious  doctrine 
to  supply  this  necessity. )  Certain  outbreaks  displease  us,  which 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  moderate.  In  many  towns,  as  no  pri- 
vate building  was  capable  of  containing  the  multitude,  they 
have  usurped  the  temples.  And  though  they  are  everywhere 
preaching  all  over  Guienne,  without  any  public  disturbance, 
we  should  have  preferred  nevertheless  that  they  had  followed  a 
line  of  conduct  that  we  deemed  more  expedient.  Nor  are  they 
dismayed  by  those  atrocious  edicts  in  which  the  king  commands 
all  the  edifices  in  which  a  meeting  may  have  been  held  to  be 
razed  to  the  ground,  and  those  who  have  attended  it  to  be 
punished  as  rebels.  But  there  is  greater  liberty  in  Guienne. 
The  Parliament  of  Paris,  which  has  extorted  this  last  edict, 
fulminates  against  our  brethren  with  the  most  frightful  violence. 
In  twenty  cities,  or  thereabouts,  the  godly  have  been  massacred 
by  the  infuriated  mob.  Respecting  these  butcheries  no  inves- 
tigation has  been  instituted,  except  at  Beauvais.  At  Paris, 
when  the  populace  attacked  tumultuously  the  house  of  a  cour- 
ageous nobleman,  and  he,  by  the  aid  of  his  friends,  repelled 
that  furious  assault,  twelve  individuals  were  killed  and  forty 


1561.]  AMBROSE   BLAURER.  19l 

wounded.  A  decree  was  immediately  passed  that  he  should  be 
summoned  to  compear,  and  unless  he  constituted  himself  pri- 
soner before  the  expiration  of  three  market  days,  that  he  should 
be  condemned  by  default.  Now,  certainly,  if  ever,  it  is  the 
moment  to  implore  God  that  he  would  be  mindful  of  his  unfor- 
tunate flock,  and  speedily  come  to  their  aid  by  his  marvellous 
power  to  appease  these  storms.  Perhaps  ere  long  we  shall  hear 
of  some  change  for  the  better.  In  the  mean  time,  it  behoves 
us  to  be  prepared  for  enduring  even  worse  extremities. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DXCIV. — To  Ambrose  Blaurer.* 

News  from  France — Mission  of  new  ministers — Rage  of  the  Parliaments — Lutheran 

Intolerance. 

Geneva,  May,  1561. 

The  state  of  afiairs  in  France  is  not  so  settled  as  you  imagine. 
The  King  of  Navarre  is  still  as  pusillanimous  as  ever.  Some- 
thing is  elicited  from  time  to  time  from  the  queen-mother,  but 
whatever  she  concedes  is  full  of  deceit  and  treachery.  In  many 
cities  the  Papists  have  broken  out  into  tumults,  not  without 
bloodshed.  At  Paris,  they  have  been  twice  vigorously  repressed 
and  severely  handled.  The  court  which  is  called  the  Parlia- 
ment not  only  dissembles,  but  seems  to  consider  it  as  an  advan- 
tage to  kindle  animosity  against  us.  With  that  it  is  incredible 
how  far  and  wide  the  kingdom  of  God  is  spreading.  From  all 
quarters  demands  for  ministers  are  addressed  to  us,  and  though 
we  have  no  more  to  send,  yet  such  is  the  importunity  of  those 
who  ask,  that  we  must  choose  certain  ministers  from  the  lower 
ranks  of  the  people.  The  Parliament  of  Toulouse  is  more  atro- 
cious than  that  of  Paris.  Many  are  still  in  prison  there. 
Some  were  burned  not  long  ago.  Unless  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre, who  takes  a  much  more  courageous  and  manly  attitude 
than  her  husband,  had  made  opposition,  many  churches  would 

'  A  fragment,  without  date,  and  of  which  tho  beginning  is  a  wanting,  May,  1561. 


192  THE  ADMIRAL   DE   COLIGNY.  [1561. 

have  been  cruelly  afflicted.  We  should  have  but  very  slight 
hopes,  were  it  not  that  God  in  establishing  the  kingdom  of  his 
son  is  wont,  from  perplexed  beginnings,  to  bring  more  joyful 
issues.  When  I  perceive  springing  up  in  the  hearts  of  all  the 
godly  an  invincible  alacrity  which  yields  to  no  terrors,  I  endure 
with  greater  confidence. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Lutherans  do  not  cease  to  give  way  to 
their  extravagant  follies.  I  have  resolved  in  future  to  be  a 
silent  spectator  of  their  Midianitish  battles,  because  these  men 
can  in  no  way  be  so  effectually  destroyed  as  by  their  own  vio- 
lence. Brentz  would  have  consulted  better  for  his  own  reputa- 
tion by  holding  his  peace.  Now  he  has  broken  out  with  such 
a  degree  of  stolidity  and  folly  that  he  has  brought  on  himself 
more  disgrace  than  his  enemies  could  have  wished.  Certainly 
it  is  impossible  that  this  last  act  will  not  render  his  interment 
disgraceful. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Zurich,  Hottinguer. — F.  43,  p.  435.] 


DXCV. — To  THE  Admiral  de  Coligny.' 

Pious  exhortations — Renewed  recommendation  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  May,  1561. 

MoNSEiGNEUR  : — We  have  to  praise  God  for  having  prospered 
the  journey  of  the  man  you  demanded.^  I  doubt  not  but  you 
have  found  him  such  as  you  desired,  and  have  discovered  by  ex- 
perience that  he  seeks  faithfully  to  discharge  his  duty.  As  I 
know  not  in  what  nor  for  how  long  a  time  you  intend  to  employ 
him,  I  shall,  on  that  point,  wait  for  a  declaration  of  your  good 
pleasure.  In  the  meantime,  Monseigneur,  I  pray  you  not  to 
be  weary  in  the  pursuit  of  so  good  and  holy  a  work,  to  which  we 
ought  to  devote  a  hundred  lives  if  we  had  them.  I  partly  com- 
prehend the  difficulties  and  obstacles  which  might  arrest  you, 

'  Without  date.     The  end  is  wanting,  May  1561. 

'  The  minister,  John  Raymond  Merlin,  from  Romans  in  Dauphin^,  surnamed  M.  de 
Monroy.  "Master  Jehan  Merlin  was  sent  to  the  house  of  the  Admiral  at  court,  who 
had  written  to  have  a  person  in  such  a  place.'' — Registres  de  la  Compagnie,  ann.,  1561. 


1561.]  THE    ADMIRAL    DE    COLIGNY.  193 

or  cause  you  to  turn  bridle.  You  feel,  by  experience,  far  more 
of  them,  but  you  know,  Monseigneur,  that  in  placing  your  stay 
upon  Him,  who  has  set  you  to  work,  you  shall  never  be  frustrated 
in  your  expectations.  It  is  true,  that  to  fortify  yourself  to  serve 
him  constantly,  you  must  look  higher  than  the  world,  as  the 
Apostle  also  exhorts  us  to  cast  our  anchor  in  heaven.  But 
whatever  happens,  God  will  always  cause  to  prosper  the  service 
which  we  shall  offer  him  with  unconstrained  courage.  I  have  a 
shrewd  notion  that  the  devil  is  brewing  some  mischief  under 
ground,  in  order  to  produce  fresh  disorders.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  I  trust,  that  God  will  do  his  own  work  in  some  extraor- 
dinary fashion.  Not  that  I  approve  of  the  ardour  of  certain 
persons  who  are  in  too  great  a  haste.  But  since  I  cannot  mo- 
derate their  impetuosity,  I  shut  my  eyes,  not  knowing  what 
God  intends  to  do  ;  unless  it  be  to  cast  down  all  human  policy,  in 
casting  down  by  foolishness  the  sly  devices  which  people  antici- 
pate on  the  part  of  the  crafty.  In  a  word,  I  trust  that  though 
the  king  will  go  to  seek  the  cardinal,'  God  will  draw  near  to 
him  and  to  his  people,  in  such  a  manner  that  these  shall  never 
be  able  to  remove  far  from  him.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  our 
duty  to  march  in  the  path  which  he  points  out  to  us. 

I  must,  also,  drop  one  word  in  your  private  ear,  Monseigneur, 
touching  the  affair'^  about  which  I  sent  to  you  a  written  memo- 
rial. If  you  see  that  the  matter  is  followed  up,  I  entreat  you 
to  take  care  that  we  be  not  forgotten  in  it.  I  believe  this  town 
recommends  itself  to  your  attention  upon  higher  grounds.  But 
what  is  certain  is,  that  you  cannot  procure  the  good  of  this  town 
without  serving  at  the  same  time  the  interests  of  the  king.  For 
though  it  seems  to  be  of  small  importance,  yet  what  is  small  is 
not  always  to  be  despised.  .  .  . 

[Fr.  Orig. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.] 

•  Young  King  Charles  and  the  court  were  about  to  go  to  Rheims  for  the  fCtes  of  the 
coronation  which  was  performed  by  the  Cardinal  Lorraine,  on  the  L3th  June,  1561. 

"  See  p.  166.  The  point  in  question  was  to  have  Geneva  included  in  the  renewal 
of  the  alliance  between  the  King  of  France  and  the  Swiss  Cantons. 

25 


194  THE   KING    OF   NAVARRE.  [1561c 

DXCVI. — To  THE  King  of  Navarre.' 

Keen  censure  of  the  foibles  of  this  monarch. 

Geneva,  J/ay,  1561. 

Sire  : — Though  by  the  letter  which  you  were  pleased  to  write 
to  me  lately,  you  have  given  me  permission  and  boldness  to  con- 
tinue to  give  such  exhortations  as  necessity  might  call  for,  ne- 
vertheless I  could  very  much  have  wished  not  to  enter  on  a 
subject  which  it  is  possible  will  not  at  first  sight  be  very  agree- 
able to  you.  But  I  pray  you,  sire,  to  reflect  on  what  St.  Paul 
says,  that  we  are  sometimes  constrained  to  make  sad  those 
whom  we  desire  to  make  glad,  and  even  if  they  are  grieved  for 
a  short  time,  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  causing  them  a  hundred 
times  more  joy  than  if  we  had  left  them  in  repose,  or  lulled 
them  into  a  mortal  sleep.  And  in  fact,  sire,  in  your  wisdom 
you  would  judge  that  I  should  be  both  a  traitor  and  disloyal  to 
you,  if  in  speaking  in  the  name  of  God,  who  commands  not  to 
\  spare  kings,  I  did  not  frankly  remonstrate  with  you  about  what 
cannot  and  should  not  be  dissembled.  I  know  what  modesty 
and  discretion  we  should  make  use  of,  in  order  not  co  advance 
rashly  and  at  random  things  of  which  we  have  not  a  proper 
knowledge.  But  at  the  same  time  the  facts  of  which  I  have  to 
give  you  notice  are  but  too  much  divulged,  and  a  great  deal  more 
than  I  could  have  wished.  St.  Ambrose  complains  with  great 
justice  in  some  passages  of  his  writings  that  the  world  suffers 

'  Letter  without  any  date,  written  probably  at  the  same  period  as  that  one  addressed 
to  Bullinger,  (25  May,  1561,)  in  which  we  remark  this  severe  judgment  pronounced 
on  the  King  of  Navarre: — '•  The  King  of  Navarre  is  now  as  sluggish  and  versatile 
as  he  has  been  always  a  liberal  promiser;  he  lacks  good  faith  and  constancy.  For 
though  now  and  then  he  seems  to  show  some  sparks  of  a  manly  temper,  and  even 
flashes  out  into  zeal,  yet  a  moment  after  this  flame  becomes  extinct.  Add  to  this, 
that  he  is  wholly  taken  up  with  amorous  intrigues,  and  a  woman  versed  in  these  arts 
has  found  among  the  ladies  of  the  court  wherewith  completely  to  entrap  him."  In- 
formed by  the  ministers  of  Paris  of  the  foibles  of  this  prince,  Calvin  laid  before  him 
his  duties  with  a  pious  freedom.  "  Respecting  these  things,  I  have  reproved  him  with 
as  much  freedom  and  sincerity  as  I  would  have  reproved  any  individual  of  my  own 
flock.  Beza  has  handled  him  with  not  more  reserve  ;  but  in  listening  patiently  to  our 
reproaches,  and  without  flying  into  a  passion,  he  fancies  he  has  sufl5ciently  acquitted 
himself  of  his  duty,"  etc. 


1561.]  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE.  195 

little  children  to  hear,  see,  and  speak  ;  and  it  ■would  wish  to  ren- 
der the  servants  of  God  deaf,  blind,  and  dumb,  though  a  spe- 
cial charge  has  been  given  to  them  to  watch,  spy,  question,  and 
cry  aloud,  as  it  were,  by  sound  of  trumpet.  I  hope,  sire,  and 
feel  persuaded  that  you  will  not  be  of  the  number  of  those,  but 
that  you  will  believe  that  I  have  not  been  for  slight  reasons 
moved  to  declare  to  you  the  deep  distress  I  feel  on  learning 
that  you  have  been  gained,  by  very  bad  means,  to  a  great  many 
things  which  you  ought  to  have  opposed  strongly  and  steadfastly. 
I  only  write  to  you,  sire,  what  is  the  common  talk,  and  with 
which  the  ears  of  too  many  have  been  filled.  What  is  whispered 
about  is  that  some  foolish  amours  prevent  you  from  doing  your 
duty,  or  cool  in  part  your  ardour  in  the  discharge  of  it,  and 
that  the  devil  has  agents  that  seek  neither  your  good  nor  ho- 
nour, who  by  such  allurements  strive  to  draw  you  over  to  their 
party,  or  to  coax  you  that  they  may  not  be  disturbed  in  their 
plots  and  intrigues.  If  you  are  angry,  sire,  that  they  should 
entertain  such  an  opinion  of  you,  I  pray  you  to  reflect  on  the 
number  of  young  girls  that  give  occasion  for  it.  I  entreat  you 
again  and  again,  sire,  to  remark  well  what  St.  Peter  says,  that 
it  is  enough  for  the  time  past  to  have  followed  foolish  lusts, 
pleasures,  dissoluteness  of  unbelievers ;  for  when  you  shall  be 
no  longer  stained  with  these  things,  sire,  not  only  will  all  be 
overlooked  by  God  and  his  angels,  but  also  forgotten  by  the 
world.  But,  on  the  contrary,  God  permits  when  we  return  to 
iniquity  that  what  was  blotted  out  should  be  brought  to  remem- 
brance, and  specially  he  places  it  to  our  account.  I  entreat  you, 
then,  sire,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  rouse  yourself  up  in  good 
earnest.  Know  that  the  greatest  virtue  you  can  possess  is  to 
war  against  your  affections,  to  retrench  w^orldly  pleasures,  sub- 
due the  lusts  which  induce  you  to  offend  God,  and  trample  under 
your  feet  the  vanities  that  very  soon  lead  us  astray  without  our 
being  aware  of  it.  For  though  in  the  elevated  position  and 
royal  rank  in  which  you  are  placed  it  is  difficult  to  curb  one's 
self,  yet  it  is  most  certain  that  the  license  which  the  great  ones 
of  the  earth  allow  themselves  is  by  so  much  the  less  excusable, 
as  God  has  laid  them  under  greater  obligations.  And  the  say- 
ing of  Jesus  Christ  will  needs  be  made  good,  that  an  account 


196  THE  KING  OF  NAVARKE.  [1561. 

will  be  asked  of  every  one  according  as  he  has  received.  Nay, 
I  beseech  you,  sire,  now  to  apply  it  for  your  own  instruction, 
for  among  the  other  distinguished  favours  which  have  been  con- 
ferred on  you  in  times  past,  you  are  anew  established  in  a  posi- 
tion which  ought  to  incite  you  more  than  ever  to  keep  yourself 
carefully  on  your  guard.  For  not  only  you  have  to  support 
the  charge  of  the  public  weal,  but  God  has  ordained  you  as  a 
father  to  relieve  all  his  poor  followers,  and  send  them  your 
assistance,  so  that  they  may  be  able  with  perfect  freedom  to 
serve  and  honour  him  in  purity  ;  nay,  what  is  more,  has  appointed 
you  to  be  the  steward  of  his  truth,  of  pure  and  true  religion, 
of  the  sovereign  right  which  belongs  to  him,  to  be  obeyed  by 
all,  and  that  all  should  regulate  their  conduct  according  to  his 
will.  This  is  a  burden  so  weighty  that  there  is  not  a  creature 
who  would  not  find  much  difficulty  in  bearing  it,  and  the  devil 
lays  so  many  traps  that  one  must  be  aided  by  singular  grace 
from  God,  in  order  not  to  sink  under  it.  So  much  the  more  it 
behoves  you,  sire,  to  put  forth  all  your  energy,  to  divest  your- 
self of  all  inward  hindrances,  in  order  to  give  yourself  up  more 
freely  to  the  discharge  of  this  noble  and  holy  commission,  so  as 
not  only  to  be  approved  of  by  good  men,  but  found  irreprehen- 
sible  before  the  heavenly  Judge,  that  you  may  receive  the  crown 
of  glory  and  immortality  which  is  more  precious  than  all  the 
empires  of  this  earth.  In  the  mean  time,  sire,  though  I  doubt 
not  but  you  see  the  snares  that  are  laid,  and  the  nets  that  are 
stretched  out  to  surprise  and  circumvent  you,  and  the  intrigues 
that  are  hatching,  all  tending  to  bring  back  that  disorderly 
state  of  things  from  which  we  fancy  we  have  escaped,  neverthe- 
less my  duty  obliges  me  to  entreat  you  to  be  vigilant  and  atten- 
tive in  order  to  defeat  them. 

Sire,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indulgent 
favour,  I  pray  our  Lord  to  have  you  in  his  keeping,  to  direct 
you  in  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  uprightness,  and  constancy,  and 
increase  you  in  all  prosperity  to  the  end  that  you  may  glorify 
his  name. 

\Fr.  Orig. — Library  of  Parss,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.] 


1561.]  THE   CHURCH    OF   NIMES.  107 

DXCVIL — To  THE  Church  of  Nimes.  ^ 

Ecclesiastical  troubles,  and  counsels  how  to  remedy  them. 

Geneva,  1««  June,  1561. 

The  love  of  God,  the  Father,  and  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  be  always  upon  you  by  the  communication  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Dearly  beloved  seigneurs  and  brethren,  we  have  seen  your 
letters,  and  heard  the  report  which  has  been  sent  us  by  you,  as 
well  as  the  contents  of  the  documents  which  M.  Mutonis  had 
brought  for  his  justification.^  On  the  other  hand,  having  re- 
ceived some  accounts  of  a  purport  somewhat  different,  and  having 
duly  considered  all,  we  see  to  our  great  regret  that  your  church  is 
split  into  factions,  and  that  every  one  holds  out  too  stiffly  for 
his  own  party.  Now,  you  know,  that  the  foundation  of  a  church 
is  unity,  and  also  that  it  is  kept  up  only  by  brotherly  love  and 
concord.     Thus  one  can  look  for  nothing  but  dispersion  and 

'  To  our  very  dear  seigneurs  and  brethren,  the  overseers  and  deacons  of  the  Church 
of  Nimes.  Glorious  metropolis  of  the  Reformed  churches  of  the  south,  the  church 
of  Nimes  came  into  existence  in  persecution  and  was  inaugurated  by  martyrs.  The 
first  fires  that  were  kindled  against  the  Protestants  had  their  origin  in  this  city  in 
1537.  "  At  Nimes,  no  obscure  city  of  Languedoc,  a  new  act  of  cruelty  of  the  wicked 
has  burst  out  on  the  poor  dispersed  brethren  that  have  taken  up  their  residence  there. 
Two  were  burned,  many  thrown  into  prison,  who  are  in  danger  of  their  lives,"  <tc. — 
(Vol.  i.,  p.  68.)  The  blood  of  the  new  confessors,  Maurice  Secenat  and  Peter  de  la 
Vau,  fertilized  some  years  later  (1551-1555)  the  field  on  which  was  destined  to  rise 
one  of  the  most  powerful  churches  of  the  Reform.  It  had  for  first  pastor  Guillaume 
Mauget,  an  eloquent  preacher  and  an  intrepid  missionary,  who  wrote  to  Calvin  on 
the  12th  May,  1561 : — ''It  is  very  true,  that  they  make  many  and  grievous  assaults 
upon  us,  especially  in  this  town  of  Nimes.  For  not  only  the  magistrates  attack  us, 
and  the  people  threaten  us,  but  also  (which  is  the  greatest  distress  we  experience)  our 
own  bowels ;  that  is,  a  part  of  our  consistory  rises  up  against  us,  contrary  to  all  order 
and  discipline." — (Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  197  a.)  Informed  of  the  disturbances 
which  the  election  of  a  second  minister  had  produced  in  this  church,  Calvin  addressed 
to  the  consistory  the  most  prudent  counsels.  See  (Ibidem)  two  letters  of  the  Church 
of  Nimes  to  Calvin,  (May  and  August,)  as  well  as  the  documents  contained  in  the 
portfolio  1.  and  entitled  :  Proceedings  of  the  Conference  held  at  Nimes,  the  20th  March, 
1561,  on  the  affair  between  Mutonis  and  Manget. 

'Jean  Mutonis,  almoner  of  Madame  de  Crussol,  minister  of  Montagnac,  near  Uzes, 
called  to  Nimes  by  the  party  opposed  to  the  minister  Mauget.  This  election  was 
annulled. 


198  THE   CHURCH    OF   NIMES.  [1561. 

ruin  when  a  door  is  opened  for  strife,  and  contentions.  And, 
in  fact,  God  will  always  make  good  what  has  been  declared  by 
the  mouth  of  St.  Paul,  that  those  who  bite  and  devour  one  an- 
other will  in  the  end  be  consumed  of  one  another.  We  then 
entreat  you,  for  God's  sake,  to  beware  of  the  crafty  devices 
of  Satan,  and  not  to  yield  to  bitterness  of  spirit,  in  order  to 
support  any  quarrel  whatsoever,  unless  it  be  that  which  ought 
to  inflame  and  consume  your  hearts,  when  you  are  called  to  do 
battle  with  a  common  accord  against  the  enemies  of  the  truth 
of  God.  We  can  easily  perceive  that  you  have  been  too  much 
taken  up  with  the  question  of  persons  which  has  impaired  the 
rectitude  of  your  judgments,  as  our  Lord  well  reminds  us ;  and 
for  that  reason,  you  were  obliged  to  institute  lawsuits  which 
have  caused  great  scandal,  the  rather  that  many  persons  might 
suppose  the  church  was  troubled  by  some  envy  or  emulation 
among  its  ministers.  For  we  are  inclined  to  suspect  evil  much 
more  than  good.  Now,  as  we  have  not  found  that  it  would  be 
to  the  advantage  of  our  church  to  rake  up  the  quarrels  which 
ought  to  be  set  at  rest  by  the  decisions  which  have  been  adopted 
respecting  them,  we  were  unwilling  to  interfere  for  fear  of 
usurping  the  rights  of  others.  Even  if  there  should  be  any 
defect  in  point  of  form  in  these  decisions,  we  conceive  it  to  be 
expedient  to  keep  by  the  resolutions  that  have  been  adopted. 
Thus  we  pray  and  exhort  you  in  the  name  of  God  not  only  to 
hush  up  and  overlook  the  recollection  of  these  differences  which 
have  but  too  much  agitated  you,  but  also  to  obliterate  them  en- 
tirely from  your  minds,  that  there  may  be  nothing  to  prevent 
you  from  holding  out  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  one  another,  and 
acting  in  concert  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty.  The  bearer 
has  made  every  effort  to  effect  his  object  in  having  the  said 
Mutonis  accorded  to  you  for  your  pastor,  and  has  not  failed  to 
insist  and  make  replies  to  the  best  of  his  ability.  But  our 
remonstrances  were  so  just  that  finally  he  was  obliged  to  ac- 
quiesce in  them,  for  the  brethren  of  Uzes  had  anticipated  you, 
and  having  obtained  him  with  his  own  consent,  granted  with 
only  one  exception,  that  their  choice  should  meet  with  our 
approbation,  and  because  we  had  given  them  an  answer  by  an 
express  messenger  that  we  should  by  no  means  think  of  oppos- 


1561.]  THE  CHURCH  of  nimes.  199 

ing  an  election  which  they  had  made,  and  that  our  desire  was 
that  he  should  labour  faithfully  for  their  edification,  we  were 
no  longer  at  liberty  to  retract  our  words.  For  if  we  do  not 
come  near  to  the  virtues  of  St.  Paul,  at  least,  we  should  strive 
to  follow  them  at  an  humble  distance,  and  put  in  practice  the 
lesson  he  has  given  us,  that  no  one  may  find  in  our  conversation 
at  once  yea  and  nay,  to  make  us  be  judged  double-minded  and 
inconstant.  We  do  not  see,  then,  how  the  said  Mutonis  can 
disengage  himself  from  such  an  obligation.  At  any  rate,  it 
would  have  been  a  great  shame  for  us  to  vary  in  our  opinion, 
since  we  had  already  sent  off  the  letters,  and  this  apology  we 
make,  no  doubt,  you  will  accept.  Now,  for  the  present,  we  see 
nothing  better  for  you  than  to  listen  peaceably  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  our  brother,  M.  Mauget,  and  seeing  his  labours  profit 
among  you,  to  take  courage  to  further  the  work  of  your  salva- 
tion. We  should  not  have  failed  to  send  you  our  brother,  M. 
d'Anduze,'  were  it  not  that  some  of  our  society  are  absent  and 
another  is  ill ;  but  we  trust  that  in  the  course  of  three  months 
we  shall  have  a  better  opportunity,  and  then  we  shall  not  fail 
to  prove  to  you  the  desire  we  have  of  coming  to  your  aid.  If 
God  grants  us  this  favour  that  he  shall  go  to  visit  you  when  he 
is  on  the  spot,  and  shall  have  remained  there  some  time,  he  will 
deliberate  with  you  about  every  thing  that  may  be  good  and  pro- 
per for  preserving  the  state  of  your  church,  pacifying  all  dissen- 
sions, and  establishing  such  order  for  the  future  as  that  you 
shall  not  relapse  into  similar  troubles.  In  the  mean  time,  we 
reiterate  our  entreaties  to  you  to  come  to  an  amicable  agree- 
ment Avith  your  pastor,  for  you  know  we  are  incapable  of  being 
disciples  of  Jesus  Christ  till  we  have  a  spirit  of  meekness.  We 
hope  that  on  his  side  he  will  conduct  himself  towards  you  with 
so  much  kindly  feeling  that  you  shall  have  no  reason  to  be  dis- 
satisfied with  him. 

Whereupon,  beloved  seigneurs  and  brethren,  having  com- 
mended ourselves  to  you  and  to  your  fervent  prayers,  we  sup- 

'  "  The  Seigneurs  d'Anduze,"  snys  Beza,  "  made  such  a  profession  of  the  gospel  that 
one  of  them,  having  retired  to  Geneva,  there  exercised  the  ministry  for  a  long  time, 
and  died  afterwards  a  minister  at  Nimes,  in  very  great  renown." — Uiat.  EccL,  vol.  i., 
p.  214.  See  a  letter  of  M.  d'Anduzo  (Pierre  d'Airebondouze)  to  the  society  of  Qe- 
Deva,  7  April,  1571. — {Geneva,  vol.  197  a.) 


200  JAMES    STUART.  [1561. 

plicate  our  God  and  Father  to  have  you  in  his  keeping,  to 
govern  you  by  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  integrity,  to  sustain 
you  by  his  power,  and  increase  you  in  all  good. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.] 


DXCVIII.— To  James  Stuart.^ 

He  engages  bim  to  persevere  in  his  pious  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  the  reign  of 
Jesus  Christ  in  Scotland. 

Geneva,  Wth  July,  1561. 

Monsieur  : — Though  I  do  not  know  you  personally,  yet  the 
zeal  and  constancy  you  have  displayed  in  advancing  the  reign 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  re-establishing  the  true  service 
of  God  and  religion,  encourage  me  not  only  to  write  to  you  but 
also  oblige  me  to  confirm  you  in  this  holy  purpose.  Not  that  I 
imagine  you  have  any  need  of  being  impelled  to  the  work  by 
others,  as  if  it  were  to  be  feared  that  your  courage  should  become 
weakened  or  damped ;  but  because  I  well  know  that  you  cannot 
labour  so  strenuously  as  you  do  to  maintain  the  truth  of  God 
without  having  to  endure  many  assaults.  I  doubt  not,  when  on 
my  side  I  shall  endeavour  to  aid  you  by  some  exhortations,  but 
you  will  take  it  in  good  part ;  as  in  fact  those  whom  God  has 
most  fortified  feel  but  so  much  the  more  the  residue  of  weak- 

'  The  superscription :  To  the  nobleman,  James  Stuart,  elder  brother  of  the  Queen 
of  Scotland. 

James  Stuart,  natural  son  of  James  V.,  and  Prior  of  St.  Andrews,  played  an  im- 
portant part  in  the  history  of  Scotland  during  the  reign  of  Mary  Stuart.  A  declared 
partisan  of  the  Reform,  he  was  named  a  deputy  to  Mary  Stuart  to  invite  her  to 
return  to  her  kingdom  after  the  death  of  Francis  II.  her  husband.  He  protected  her 
from  the  excesses  of  the  Reformed  party,  was  created  successively  Earl  of  Mar,  Earl 
of  Murray,  and  became  regent  in  1567.  From  that  time,  opposed  to  the  queen,  he  con- 
stantly courted  the  favour  and  support  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Victorious  over  the  royal 
army  at  Langside,  (1568,)  he  publicly  accused  Mary  of  the  murder  of  Daruley  her 
second  husband,  and  perished  himself  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  of  the  house  of 
Hamilton.  Robertson,  the  historian,  while  he  accuses  him  of  ingratitude  towards  Mary 
Stuart  and  of  servility  towards  Elizabeth,  pays  homage  to  his  military  talents  and 
the  vigour  of  his  administration.  Long  after  his  death  popular  gratitude  accorded 
him  the  title  of  the  Good  Regent. 


1561.]  JAMES    STUART.  201 

ness  that  is  still  in  themselves,  and  desire  to  be  so  confirmed  as 
never  to  faint.  You  have  indeed  given  proofs  of  a  rare  virtue 
in  shutting  your  eyes  on  all  the  objects  of  this  world  which 
might  retard  your  efforts,  or  prevent  you  from  giving  yourself 
entirely  up  to  combat  for  the  cause  of  the  gospel ;  but  be  per- 
suaded that  the  devil  will  never  cease  to  return  to  the  charge, 
and  he  has  an  infinite  number  of  agents  whose  rage  is  sufficiently 
inflamed  to  overturn  the  pure  doctrine  of  salvation  if  it  were 
in  their  power. 

You  must  be  prepared  then  to  encounter  many  troubles,  and 
should  fortify  yourself  with  strength  from  on  high  in  order  to  re- 
sist them.  When  you  shall  have  long  pondered  in  your  mind 
beforehand,  that  you  ought  never  to  be  weary  of  this  great  work, 
nothing  will  make  you  astonished.  The  more  furiously  the 
crafty  and  reprobate  fight  against  God,  we  ought  to  be  the  more 
animated  to  combat  under  the  banner  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
for  our  salvation,  being  certain  of  the  victory.  St.  Paul  had  ac- 
complished much,  when  nevertheless  he  protests  he  had  not  yet 
attained  to  the  end,  but  was  striving  to  reach  it.  Seeing  him- 
self drawing  near  to  his  death,  he  boasts  that  he  has  not  com- 
bated in  vain,  since  the  crown  of  righteousness  is  prepared  for 
hinu  I  doubt  not  but  God,  who  has  begun  so  well  to  conduct 
you,  will  continue  to  the  end,  that  along  with  courage  he  will 
also  bestow  on  you  wisdom  to  resist  and  defeat  all  the  evil  wiles 
and  machinations  of  the  enemy.  And  you  have  much  need  of 
it,  for  certain  it  is  that  the  enemy  is  devising  nothing  but  dis- 
loyalty and  treachery. 

You  will  also  have  to  keep  an  eye  on  those  who  half  counter- 
feit to  be  Christians,  and  yet  mix  up  their  errors  and  blasphemies 
with  the  truth,  that  you  may  repel  them  from  creeping  into  the 
church,  or  even  cast  them  out  of  it  altogether,  lest  it  should  be 
infected  by  their  poison,  for  they  are  plagues  of  the  worst  and 
most  deadly  kind.  Wherefore  we  must  carefully  practise  the 
exhortation  of  the  Apostle,  not  to  let  the  bitterness  of  evil  weeds 
spring  up,  that  the  good  seed  be  not  corrupted  by  tliem ;  and  as 
it  is  our  duty  always  to  be  going  forward  in  the  work  of  God,  it 
will  be  proper  for  you  at  least  to  keep  a  strong  hand,  that  what 
has  been  well  begun  fall  not  into  decay. 
26 


202  THE   ADMIRAL   DE   COLIGNY.  [1561. 

Whereupon,  sir,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your 
indulgent  favour,  I  will  entreat  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  holy  keeping,  to  guide  you  by  his  Spirit,  to  do  what 
shall  be  agreeable  to  him,  and  strengthen  you  with  invincible 
courage. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Diipiiy.     Vol.  102.] 


DXCIX. — To  THE  Admiral  de  Coligny.' 

He  pays  homage  to  the  zeal  of  the  Admiral   and  the  constancy  of  the  French  Pro- 
testants. 

Geneva,  llth  July,  1561. 

MoNSEiGNEUR : — Though  it  were  to  be  desired  that  the  king- 
dom of  God  should  make  greater  advances  in  your  country,  and 
that  the  gospel  had  a  more  peaceable  course,  nevertheless  you 
must  not  think  it  strange  if  He,  who  conducts  everything  by  his 
admirable  counsel,  wishes  to  try  the  patience  of  his  people  in 
prolonging  the  term  of  their  struggle,  provided  only  all  those 
who  hold  for  the  good  cause,  break  through  all  restraints  in 
order  to  employ  themselves  perseveringly  and  unreservedly  as 
they  ought  in  building  up  the  temple  of  God.  And  in  one  word 
you  will  experience  that  he  watches  more  than  we  comprehend, 
to  cause  his  work  to  prosper.  Let  us  only  beware  of  becoming 
weary,  and  though  the  fruit  of  our  labours  be  hidden  for  the 
present,  it  will  appear  in  due  time.  The  eiforts  also  of  the 
enemies  of  the  truth  ought  to  be  an  occasion  for  your  striving 
still  more,  in  order  that  their  audacity  and  presumption  may  be 

'  While  under  the  influence  of  the  Chancellor  L'Hopital,  the  government  showed 
itself  less  hostile  to  the  Reformed  party,  and  while  the  triumvirate  was  formed  for 
the  defence  of  Catholicism  and  the  extermination  of  heresy,  the  Admiral  de  Coligny, 
redoubling  his  energy,  demanded  free  preaching  of  the  Reform  in  France.  "  The 
admiral  is  the  only  one  on  whose  fidelity  wo  can  count.'.''  A  colleague  of  ours  also  is  most 
active  in  stirring  up  his  zeal.  .  .  He  preaches  publicly  to  crowded  audiences  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  palace.  All  our  adversaries  keep  bawling  that  such  audacity 
is  not  to  be  tolerated.  The  queen  coaxingly  entreats  him  to  desist,  but  to  no  purpose. 
He  has  determined  to  brave  everything  rather  than  to  flinch.  .  .  It  is  incredible  with 
what  fervent  zeal  our  brethren  are  urging  forward  greater  progress."  Calvin  to  Bui- 
linger,  2'ith  May,  1561. 


1561.]  THE   ADMIRAL    DE    COLIGNT.  203 

checked  and  defeated  by  the  constancy  which  God  shall  have 
bestowed  on  you.  It  is  much  to  be  perfectly  assured  that  what- 
ever trouble  they  give  you,  the  issue  will  be  fortunate  for  you 
and  turn  to  their  confusion.  God  also  holds  out  before  your 
eyes  a  fine  mirror  for  your  encouragement,  when  amid  fears  and 
threats  the  poor  brethren  of  France  never  tire  in  holding  on 
their  course.  The  state  of  things  there  is  in  great  confusion, 
but  we  trust  that  God  will  confound  the  most  wily,  and  that  they 
will  find  themselves  caught  in  their  OAvn  nets.  He  who  ought 
to  take  the  lead  is  so  indifi'erent  that  it  is  impossible  to  be  more 
so.' 

The  enemies  are  more  furious  than  ever  to  ruin  all,  if 
God  did  not  bridle  their  rage.  Even  that  mad  fool  who  some- 
times made  war  on  you  has  lately  taken  about  three  hundred  of 
your  men  prisoners  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Chinon.  But  he 
received  strict  orders  to  set  them  all  at  liberty  and  repair  im- 
mediately to  court,  with  sharp  threats  if  he  should  show  himself 
restive.^  At  least  this  is  a  slight  relief  which  God  has  afforded 
his  children.  And  so,  Monseigneur,  being  animated  by  such 
examples,  you  should  not  connect  yourself  with  those  who  acquit 
themselves  badly  of  their  duty,  but  you  ought  rather  to  strive 
to  make  them  ashamed  and  correct  their  cowardice,  and  what- 
ever resistance  Satan  oppose  to  you,  you  should  surmount 
it  all  by  the  power  of  Him  who  has  promised  that  our  faith  will 
be  victorious  over  the  world.  Reflect  also  that  you  have  not 
only  to  resist  open  enemies,  but  also  those  of  your  own  house 
who  introduce  themselves  under  false  pretexts.  And  forasmuch 
as  in  these  beginnings  many  fickle  and  ungovernable  characters 
will  permit  themselves  too  much  licence,  it  will  be  the  more 
necessary  for  you  to  exercise  a  strict  police.  I  have  known  a 
young  soldier  of  your  nation,  who  has  not,  I  believe,  his  match 

*  The  King  of  Nararre,  seduced  by  the  artful  promises  of  the  Guises,  and  deaf  to 
the  energetic  representations  of  his  wife,  showed  himself  every  day  less  zealous  for 
the  cause  of  the  Reformation. 

"  The  seigneur  thus  designated  appears  to  be  Jacques  d'Armagnac,  Duke  of  Nemours, 
the  declared  enemy  of  the  Admiral  de  Coligny.  A  recent  edict  of  tlie  king  (April 
1561)  had  enjoined  the  setting  at  liberty  of  all  persons  imprisoned  for  the  sake  of  re- 
ligion. The  Parliament  of  Paris,  inexorable  in  its  rigour  against  the  Protestants,  re- 
fused to  register  the  edict. 


204  THE  PASTORS    OF    ZURICH.  [1561. 

for  overweening  self-conceit.  I  have  no  doubt  but  he  will  be 
intermeddling  to  embroil  matters  as  much  as  he  can.  If  such 
people  were  not  kept  in  check,  there  would  result  very  soon  a 
confusion  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  remedy.  But  I  hope 
that,  in  everything  and  everywhere,  God  will  provide  you  with 
prudence  and  courage  to  bring  to  a  successful  conclusion  what 
he  has  given  you  the  grace  to  commence. 

Monseigneur,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  increase 
in  you  more  and  more  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit,  that  thereby  his 
name  may  be  glorified,  to  prosper  you  in  all  your  actions,  and 
to  keep  you  under  his  protection. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DC. — To  THE  Pastors  of  Zurich. 

A  collection  in  favour  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  Piedmont. 

Geneva,  14(A  July,  1561. 

These  brethren  have  come  from  the  valley  of  Angrogne,  and 
the  places  in  its  neighbourhood,  to  ask  for  some  relief  in  their 
necessities.  In  their  distress  we  have  not  reproached  them  for 
having  injudiciously  taken  up  arms,  although  we  had  certainly 
dissuaded  them  from  having  recourse  to  such  a  measure.  They 
are  reduced  to  such  utter  destitution  that  their  sad  condition 
might  well  move  to  compassion  all  those  who  have  any  feelings 
of  humanity.  We  have  not  been  able  to  make  up  a  consider- 
able sum  for  them,  for  the  third  part  of  the  foreigners  who  so- 
journ here  have  at  present  taken  their  flight  from  the  city. 
None  but  the  poorer  classes  have  been  left.  We  have,  never- 
theless, contracted  a  debt  of  four  thousand  crowns,  and,  at  the 
present  moment,  we  have  acted  well,  if  not  very  wisely.  He 
who  should  have  discharged  this  obligation  is  deaf.  Thus  (what 
will  not  redound  greatly  to  the  honour  of  the  King  of  Navarre) 
we  have  paid  down  what  in  all  justice  he  ought  to  have  placed 
to  his  own  account.     They  will  now  proceed  as  they  have  been 


1561.]  THE  cnuiicH  of  sauve.  205 

directed  to  you.  It  Avould  have  been  foolish  to  commend  them 
to  Beza.  A  letter  to  you  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  refuse  them. 
If  you  should  judge  it  proper,  since  it  is  their  wish  to  pass 
through  Schaffhausen,  you  will  direct  and  assist  them  with  your 
kindness  and  authority. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  sirs  and  most  honoured  brethren. 
May  the  Lord  always  govern,  protect,  and  bless  you. 
Yours,  John  Calvin 

In  the  name  and  by  the  order  of  the  brethren. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Arch,  of  Zurich,  Gest.  VI.,  106,  p.  839.] 


DCI. — To  THE  Church  of  Sauve.' 

Energetic  censure  of  the  acta  of  vandalism  committed  by  a  minister  of  this  church. 

Geneva,  Jubj,  1561. 

Dearly  beloved  Seigneurs  and  Brethren  : — If  every  one 
practised  rightly  the  rule  which  the  Holy  Spirit  has  given  us  by 
the  mouth  of  St.  Paul,  to  walk  circumspectly  and  with  all  modesty, 
so  as  not  to  give  to  others  any  handle  for  offence,  you  would 
not  be  in  your  present  distress,  nor  should  we  be  at  a  loss  how 
to  counsel  and  exhort  you  to  remedy  a  scandal  which  has  already 
taken  place,  and  provide  that  such  acts  should  not  occur  for  the 
future.  We  speak  of  the  foolish  deed  which  was  performed  at 
Sauve  in  burning  idols  and  pulling  down  a  cross.  We  are  very 
much  surprised  at  such  temerity  in  a  man  whose  duty  it  was  to 
moderate  and  restrain  others.     For,  as  we  have  heard,  he  not 

'  On  the  back  of  the  letter  in  Calvin's  hand  :  "  Against  the  temerity  of  the  preacher 
of  Sauve."  A  letter  without  date,  but  written  in  the  month  of  July,  1561,  as  is  indi- 
cated by  the  answers  of  the  minister  of  the  Church  of  Sauve,  of  the  31st  August,  1561. 
Under  the  administration  of  the  precarious  toleration,  inaugurated  by  the  accession 
of  Charles  IX.,  excesses  to  be  regretted  were  committed  by  the  Protestants  of  Lan- 
guedoc  and  Dauphiny.  Several  Catholic  churches  were  sacked.  The  Reformed  po- 
pulation of  Sauve,  a  small  town  of  the  Cevennes,  committed  acts  of  sacrilegious 
violence  which  Calvin  energetically  blamed.  Deposed  by  the  provincial  synod  of 
Sommieres,  maintained  by  the  consistory  of  Sauve,  the  minister  Sartas,  the  princi- 
pal author  of  these  excesses,  humbled  himself  before  the  society  of  Geneva,  nnd  ob- 
tained from  them  a  pardon,  as  he  assured  them  that  he  hnd  done  nothing  but  out 
of  a  worthy  zeal  to  prevent  many  scaudals." — Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  197  a. 


206  THE   CHURCH    OF   SAUVE.  [1561. 

only  gave  his  consent  to  the  deed  (which  was  already  too  bad  a 
thing),  but  he  stirred  up  the  people,  being  the  most  mutinous  of 
them  all.  Now,  if  he  had  forgotten  himself,  being  surprised  by 
some  thoughtless  ardour,  the  least  thing  he  could  do  was  to  ac- 
knowledge his  fault  and  profess  himself  sorry  for  it,  especially 
as  he  had  been  warned  and  exhorted.  But  to  maintain  that  he 
acted  so  with  a  good  conscience  is  an  instance  of  intolerable 
obstinacy.  If  he  will  have  us  believe  such  a  thing,  let  him 
prove  from  the  word  of  God  what  grounds  he  had  for  this  pro- 
ceeding. But  we  know  quite  the  contrary.  God  has  never 
given  commandment,  except  to  each  one  in  his  own  house,  and 
in  public  to  those  he  arms  with  authority,  to  cast  down  idols. 
Now  it  is  not  without  cause  that  it  was  expressly  said  to  the 
people  of  Israel,  when  thou  shalt  have  come  into  the  land  which 
thy  Grodgiveth  thee,  and  shalt  possess  it,  then,  etc.  Thus  let  this 
firebrand  show  us  by  what  title  he  is  lord  of  the  land  where  he 
has  issued  his  order  for  burning.  Now,  inasmuch  as  God  has 
not  authorized  him  to  do  this,  his  good  conscience,  as  he  calls 
it,  is  nothing  else  than  the  good  intention  of  the  Papists,  In 
expressing  ourselves  thus,  we  are  not  become  the  advocates  of 
idols,  and  would  to  God  they  were  all  banished  from  the  world, 
even  should  it  cost  us  our  lives.  But  since  obedience  is  better 
than  sacrifice,  we  have  to  consider  what  is  lawful,  and  restrain 
ourselves  within  bounds.  For  it  is  to  act  like  a  horse  that  has 
broke  loose  from  the  reins  to  attempt  more  than  what  our  voca- 
tion warrants.  We  verily  believe  that  Daniel  and  his  compa- 
nions, and  Ezekiel,  and  many  others,  were  quite  as  zealous  as 
this  poor  man  who  boasts  himself  in  the  extravagance  of  his 
self-conceit.  One  thing  is  certain,  as  long  as  they  were  at  Ba- 
bylon they  contented  themselves  with  showing  their  contempt 
of  idol  worship,  without  usurping  any  power  which  did  not 
belong  to  them.  It  were  high  time  that  this  poor  man,  having 
so  greatly  forgotten  himself,  should  hold  down  his  head.  But 
it  is  astonishing  that  he  should  be  so  stupid  as  not  to  think 
of  the  handle  which  he  has  given  to  the  crafty  to  ruin  every 
thing.  But  it  is  the  height  of  pride  and  stubbornness  obstinately 
to  persist  in  vindicating  himself,  and  not  to  yield  to  good  coun- 
sel.    Now,  since  such  is  the  case,  dear  brethren,  we  entreat  you, 


1561.]  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE.  207 

having  compassion  on  tlie  poor  churches,  in  order  not  to  expose 
them  to  massacre  with  your  eyes  open,  that  you  would  disavow 
this  act,  and  declare  openly  to  the  people  that  have  been  led 
astray,  that  you  have  separated  yourselves  from  him  who  was 
the  principal  instigator  of  it,  and  that  for  his  rebellious  conduct 
you  cut  him  off  from  your  society.  Had  he  submitted  and 
deigned  to  listen  to  reason,  he  might  have  been  treated  with 
more  indulgence.  But  since  he  is  stiff-necked,  you  cannot  spare 
him  without  a  violation  and  infraction  of  all  order.  It  is  pos- 
sible, however,  that  God  may  tame  his  stubbornness,  as  we  hum- 
bly supplicate  him  to  do,  as  also  to  have  you  in  his  keeping,  to 
fortify  and  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  while  we  heartily  commend 
ourselves  to  you  and  to  your  fervent  prayers. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCII. — To  THE  King  of  Navarre.' 

Recommendation  of  Theodore  Beza. 

Geneva,  \ith  August,  1561. 

Sire  : — We  have  received  the  letters  which  your  majesty  has 
been  pleased  to  write  to  us.  We  cannot  sufficiently  thank  you 
for  the  kind  affection  which  you  deign  to  entertain  towards  us, 
and  we  esteem  ourselves  very  happy  to  have  a  prince  like  your 
majesty  favourably  disposed  towards  us.     As  to  the  excellent 

'  Docile  to  the  counsels  of  the  Chancellor  L'H8pitnl,  the  court  had  just  decided  on 
the  opening  of  a  solemn  conference  between  the  two  religions  at  Poiasy.  The  Pro- 
testant princes,  zealous  to  draw  thither  the  most  distinguished  ministers,  wrote  to  the 
seigneurs  of  Geneva  to  ask  them  for  Calvin  or  Theodore  Beza.  The  seigneury  re- 
fused the  former,  and  consented  to  grant  the  second.  Informed  of  those  favourable 
dispositions,  the  King  of  Navarre  wrote  to  the  magistrates  of  Geneva  to  thank  them, 
and  hurry  the  departure  of  Theodore  Beza.  "We  pray  you  again  and  again  as  affec- 
tionately as  we  can,  to  be  pleased  to  grant  him  permission,  and  send  him  off  as  soon 
as  it  will  be  possible,  .  .  .  being  assured  that  all  due  honour,  welcome,  and  good 
treatment  will  be  shown  him,  such  as  his  probity,  erudition,  and  talents  deserve.  In 
this  you  will,  moreover,  do  the  king,  my  seigneur,  the  queen,  his  mother,  as  well  as 
myself  particularly,  a  very  sensible  pleasure. — Spon,  Hiet.de  Geneve,  vol.  ii.,  p.,  95; 
note  de  Gautier.  Beza  had  already  quitted  (icneva  (14  August,  1561,)  when  they 
there  received  the  king's  letter,  which  Calvin  was  charged  to  answer  in  the  name  of 
the  seigneury. 


208  PETER   MARTYR.  [1561. 

Theodore  Beza,  our  good  pastor  and  minister,  we  are  forced  to 
confess,  sire,  that  it  has  been  to  our  great  regret  that  he  undertook 
this  journey ;  not  that  we  were  not  both  ready  and  willing,  sire, 
to  employ  for  your  service  our  slender  means  as  far  as  they  can 
extend,  but  we  know  what  loss  both  the  church  and  the  school 
will  suffer  by  his  absence.'  But  if  it  please  God  that  his  labour 
produce  such  fruits,  as  we  are  bound  to  hope,  we  know  very  well 
that  it  becomes  us  to  forget  all  private  considerations.  Now 
we  owe  much  more  than  that  to  Jesus  Christ,  from  whom  we  de- 
rive every  thing,  and  to  his  church.  So  that,  in  acquitting  our- 
selves of  a  part  of  our  duty,  we  have  been  extremely  glad  at 
rendering  a  service  to  your  majesty.  Now  we  shall  always 
esteem  it  a  great  advantage  for  us  to  have  the  means  of  doing 
any  thing  which  will  be  agreeable  to  you,  and  we  pray  you, 
sire,  to  deign  to  take  into  your  custody  a  part  of  our  treasures 
in  the  person  of  him  whom  we  have  no  need  to  recommend  to 
you. 

Sire,  having  very  humbly  commended  ourselves  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  we  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  pre- 
serve your  majesty  in  his  present  state,  to  have  you  under  his 
protection,  and  increase  you  in  all  good. 

Your  very  humble  and  affectionate  servants, 

The  Syndics  and  Council  of  Geneva. 

[Lat.  Orig.,  in  Calvin's  hand. — Arch,  of  Geneva,  1561.] 


DCIII.— To  Peter  Martyr.^ 

He  exhorts  him  to  repair  to  the  religious  conferences  which  are  about  to  be  held  in 

France. 

Geneva,  17 tk  August,  1561. 

The  person  wno  lately  accompanied  our  friend  Beza  to  your 
neighbourhood  is  again  returning  to  you.     He  is  the  bearer  of 

'  Theodore  Beza  was  at  the  same  time  Rector  and  Professor  of  the  new  Academy 
of  Geneva. 

"At  the  invitation  which  was  addressed  to  him  by  Catherine  de  Medicis,  desirous  to 
hear  one  of  her  most  eloquent  countrymen  in  the  religious  conferences,  which  they 


15G1.]  PETER    MARTYR.  209 

a  letter  from  the  king  of  Navarre  to  your  senate,  in  which  lie 
earnestly  begs  and  entreats  that  you  should  be  speedily  sent 
off,  and  in  his  own  name  he  pledges  that  this  will  be  very  ac- 
ceptable to  the  king  and  his  mother.  Beza  has  set  out  without 
having  obtained  a  safe-conduct,  and  from  the  village  to  which  I 
had  retired  he  was  escorted  by  my  brother  to  the  nearest  relay 
of  the  couriers,  that  he  might  pass  through  less  noticed  by 
means  of  the  post-horses.  With  regard  to  yourself,  I  make  no 
doubt  but  that  you  have  fully  resolved  not  to  play  the  loiterer, 
on  so  important  an  occasion.  But  it  will  be  your  duty  also  to 
see  that  others  do  not  occasion  any  delay. 

I  see  how  many  things  are  to  bo  regretted,  and  I  wrote  to 
you  already,  how  dissatisfied  I  am  that  this  business  will  be 
handled  in  no  very  liberal  spirit.  I  do  not  by  any  moans,  for 
all  that,  think  that  this  affords  you  a  just  reason  for  refusing 
your  compliance;  because  if  it  is  not  yet  God's  pleasure  to  open 
a  door,  it  is  our  duty  to  creep  through  the  windows,  or  press 
through  the  smallest  holes  that  give  us  entry,  rather  than  allow 
an  opportunity  of  bringing  about  a  happy  arrangement  to  escape 
us.  I  learn  that  the  queen  mother  is  so  very  desirous  of  hearing 
you,  that  it  is  not  now  in  your  power  to  put  off  any  longer  with- 
out occasioning  very  general  complaints.  And  though  I  am 
persuaded  that  you  have  the  matter  too  much  at  heart  to  require 
to  be  stimulated  or  encouraged  by  any  remarks  of  mine,  I 
would  nevertheless  have  our  brethren  to  be  well  reminded  be- 
forcliand,  that  if  they  take  any  false  step  in  the  outset,  they 
will  be  exposed  to  blame,  as  also  if  they  should  not  be  sufficiently 
energetic  in  stirring  up  the  council.  If  you  are  resolved  to  un- 
dertake this  mission,  your  shortest  road  will  lie  through  Bur- 
gundy. You  will  not,  however,  I  hope,  consider  the  abridg- 
ment of  your  travelling  fatigue  of  such  importance,  as  not  to  pay 
us  a  visit  as  you  pass  through. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  venerable  brother.  Salute 
most  affectionately  in  my  name  M.  Bullinger  and  all  your 
brother    pastors,  whom  from   the  heart    I  honour.     May  the 

were  now  preparing  at  Paris,  Martyr  repaired  to  France.     He  spoke  but  once,  at  the 
colloquv  of  Poissy.     He  was  back  at  Zurich  by  the  2l8t  of  November,  1561. 

27 


210  SULCER.  [1561. 

Lord  continue  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit  and  enrich  you  with 
his  gifts.     My  best  wishes  for  your  wife  and  family. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

\^Lat.  orig  — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCIV.— To    SuLCER.' 

Journey  of  Beza  and  Martyr  to  France — Preparations  for  the  colloquy  of  Poissy — 
Intrigues  at  the  court  of  Wurtemberg. 

Geneva,  2Zd  August,  1561. 

I  received  your  letter,  most  accomplished  sir,  written  to  Beza, 
when  a  short  while  ago  he  had  taken  his  departure  for  France. 
He  travelled  by  post-horses,  because  it  would  not  have  been 
safe  for  him  to  undertake  the  journey  openly.  We  could  not 
obtain  a  safe  conduct,  as  they  call  it,  because  the  queen  mother 
was  unwilling  to  expose  herself  to  so  much  unpopularity  with 
the  Pope.  The  king  of  Navarre,  however,  pledged  his  faith  in 
a  letter  written  to  our  council.  Privately  also  the  king  himself, 
his  brother  the  Prince  of  Condd,  and  the  Admiral  earnestly 
urged  Beza  not  to  protract  his  departure  any  longer,  because 
he  would  have  need  to  make  all  possible  dispatch  if  he  wished 
to  arrive  at  the  proper  moment.  They  also  entreated  me  rather 
to  push  him  forward  immediately  than  to  retard  him.  A  safe- 
conduct  was  sent  some  time  ago  to  Doctor  Peter  Martyr,  by 
which  he  is  not  sent  for,  but  which  enjoins  all  the  governors  of 
the  provinces  to  aiford  him  a  secure  journey  as  he  passes  along. 
The  king  of  Navarre  afterwards  asked  the  council  of  Zurich  the 
same  thing  which  he  had  demanded  of  ours.  The  messenger  is 
not  yet  returned,  but  I  shall  know  before  three  days  whether 
he  will  come  or  not. 

You  are  surprised  that  none  of  your  doctors  from  Germany 

'  As  a  zealous  Lutheran,  Sulccr  wished  to  see  some  of  the  principal  divines  of  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg  called  to  the  colloquy  at  Poissy  ;  whilst  Calvin  saw  in  the 
presence  of  these  same  divines  at  the  colloquy,  an  occasion  of  discord  which  the  ad- 
versaries of  the  gospel  in  France  could  not  fail  to  turn  to  their  advantage.  See  the 
following  letter  to  the  King  of  Navarre. 


1561.]  SULCER.  211 

have  been  invited  to  the  conference,  know  then  that  matters 
have  not  yet  reached  that  point,  that  the  godly  are  at  liberty 
to  profess  openly  that  they  are  aiming  at  a  secession  from 
Popery.  They  dare  not  for  the  moment  put  publicly  forward 
anything  else  but  a  remedy,  which  they  are  seeking  for,  ap- 
peasing disturbances.  There  is  no  mention  made  about  a  change 
of  religion.  But  even  if  all  the  difficulties  were  removed,  I 
know  not  why  it  should  have  entered  your  thoughts  to  wish  for 
a  thing  Avhich  would  ruin  our  auspicious  beginnings.  Assuredly 
among  the  princes  whom  you  think  we  ought  to  be  careful  not 
to  offend,  the  Prince  of  Wurtemberg  is  the  only  one  who  will  send 

his  favourite  Brentz,  and  perhaps  also  P ,'  who  as  I  hear 

now  holds  with  him  the  second  post  of  honour.  Hitherto  Brentz 
has  raved  more  absurdly  about  his  ubiquity  than  the  whole  herd 
of  the  Papists.  Now  with  that  satellite  of  his  he  has  begun  to 
combat  more  perversely  the  true  and  real  faith.  Certainly,  un- 
less it  be  our  wish  to  afford  pleasant  sport  to  our  enemies,  it  is 
necessary  by  all  means  to  take  measures  to  prevent  these  furies 
from  breaking  in  on  us,  with  lighted  torches,  to  stir  up  greater 
contentions  than  those  which  have  hitherto  invaded  Germany. 
For  my  part  I  had  rather  undergo  a  hundred  deaths  than  not 
oppose  vigorously  such  pernicious  counsels. 

We  are  to  have  a  conflict  with  the  Papists.  Let  us  sound  the 
trumpet  to  proclaim  this  war,  not  for  stirring  up  intestine 
divisions.  I  confide  to  you  more  freely  these  complaints,  be- 
cause I  am  perfectly  aware  what  the  Prince  of  Wurtemberg  was 
aiming  at,  when  he  sent  on  a  mission,  the  nephew  of  Vergerio, 
whose  uncle  was  lured,  as  we  cannot  help  believing,  by  a  bribe. 
Certainly  he  reaped  some  profit  for  his  complaisance.  When 
the  affairs  shall  be  mature,  a  method  of  entering  on  some  league 
will  be  carefully  meditated,  but  it  will  be  one  that  will  not 
trouble  our  domestic  tranquillity.  For  those  who  desire  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  to  be  restored  are  not  so  senseless  as  know- 
ingly to  admit  among  them  a  brand  of  discords.  For  my  own 
part,  as  I  am  thoroughly  persuaded  of  the  sincerity  of  your 
mind,  so  I  make  no  doubt  but  you  will  easily  recede  from  your 

'  The  word  is  illegible  in  the  manuscript. 


212  THE    KING    OF    NAVARRE.  [1561. 

former  intention,  when  jou  shall  have  more  closely  considered  the 
matter. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  honoured  brother.  May 
the  Lord  always  protect  and  govern  you,  and  bless  your  labours. 
You  have  discharged  a  duty  agreeable  to  God  and  the  church 
towards  the  Piedmontese  brethren,  when  by  your  influence  some 
relief  was  aflforded  to  their  necessities. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

YLat.  orig. — Library  Freyo-Grynxana  of  Basle.     Vol.  ix.  p.  93.] 


DCV, — To  THE  King  of  Navarre.' 

Warning  on  the  subject  of  the  Lutheran  intrigues  to  introduce  into  France  the  Con- 
fession of  Augsburg. 

Geneva,  .Aug^twi,  1561. 

Sire  : — The  sad  news  which  we  have  of  the  state  of  the  king- 
dom has  forced  us  to  write  to  you,  and  beg  you  to  open  your 
eyes  and  see  what  must  be  sufficiently  notorious.  For  even  the 
most  blinded  may  perceive,  as  if  they  felt  with  their  hands,  the 
plottings  and  intrigues  which  have  been  set  on  foot,  to  break  off 
whatever  has  been  well  commenced,  and  overturn  from  one  day  to 
another  all  good  conclusions,  and  bring  back  things  to  such  a 
point,  that  Jesus  Christ  with  his  gospel  will  ere  long  be  banished 
from  the  kingdom.^  Now  he  will  not  suffer  himself  to  be  thus 
mocked,  and  he  will  know  well  how  to  take  the  crafty  in  their 

'  The  end  is  wanting.  For  title,  "  To  the  King  of  Navarre,  to  deter  him  from  receiv- 
ing the  Confession  of  Augsburg."  An  intrigue  ably  contrived  by  the  Duke  of  Guise 
and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  had  engnged  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  to  demand  the 
adoption  of  the  formulary  of  Augsburg,  as  the  symbol  of  the  Reformed  churches  of 
France. — Hist.  EccL,  vol.  i..  p.  691.  This  step,  provoked  by  the  adversaries  of  French 
Protestantism,  to  bring  on  a  conflict  between  the  two  grand  communions  of  the  Re- 
formation, unhappily  divided  on  the  question  of  the  sacraments,  had  already  excited 
the  inquietude  of  the  Theologians  of  both  parties.  Always  feeble  and  irresolute,  the 
King  of  Navarre  seemed  to  be  inclined  to  favour  the  project  of  the  Guises.  In  a 
severe  message  Calvin  warned  him,  but  in  vain,  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  perfi- 
dious intrigues  of  his  enemies. 

'The  edict  of  July  (1661),  promulgated  at  the  demand  of  the  Cardinal  ofLorraine, 
had  just  interdicted,  under  pain  of  banishment,  the  religious  meetings  of  the  Reformed, 
before  the  assembling  of  a  general  council. 


1561.]  THE  KINO  OF  NAVARRE.  213 

own  trap  ;  but  in  the  mean  time,  sire,  it  is  your  duty  not  to  per- 
mit and  suffer  the  truth  of  God  to  be  thus  betrayed  in  the  sio-ht 
of  all.  It  is  possible  you  may  have  thought  to  gain  something 
by  concessions,  but  the  evil  is  springing  up  abundantly  and 
gaining  but  too  much  strength  ;  and  if  you  be  not  on  your  guard 
disorders  will  arise  from  it,  in  a  moment  of  time  much  more  se- 
rious than  you  imagine,  and  then  it  will  no  longer  be  time  to 
remedy  them,  for  God  will  take  vengeance,  in  order  to  punish 
the  indifference  of  those  who  shall  have  neglected  their  dut}', 
according  to  the  rank  and  degree  in  which  he  had  established 
them.  If  we  speak  rather  sharply,  sire,  believe  me  now  is  the 
time  to  do  so,  or  never. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  heard  that  the  Duke  of  Wurtera- 
berg,  suborned  by  those  whom  it  is  not  necessary  to  mention, 
is  soliciting  you  to  employ  your  influence  to  have  the  Confession 
of  Augsburg  received  in  France.'  Suppose,  sire,  that  this  man 
is  playing  on  a  stage  his  part  just  as  it  has  been  distributed  to 
him.^  But  in  God's  name  reflect  how  the  confession  of  faith 
which  the  French  churches  have  sworn  to  follow  and  maintain 
has  been  ratified,  and  even  though  it  had  not  been  signed  by 
the  blood  of  martyrs,  yet  since  it  has  been  extracted  from  the 
pure  word  of  God  and  presented  to  the  king  and  his  council, 
you  cannot  reject  it,  nor  so  huddle  up  the  matter  but  that  God 
will  oppose  your  designs,  and  show  you  by  effects  that  he  will 
be  listened  to  and  believed.  With  regard  to  the  Confession  of 
Augsburg,  how  dare  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  beg  you  to  receive 
it,  when  we  reflect  that  he  and  his  like  condemn  the  author  of 
it,  who  is  Melancthon  ?  However,  we  shall  leave  him  out  of  the 
question,  since  they  have  forced  him  to  play  a  part  in  speaking 
of  a  thing  of  which  he  is  entirely  ignorant.  The  fact  is,  that 
the  most  renowned  persons  of  that  party  agree  like  dog  and 
cat.  We  are  much  deceived  if  the  person  who  brought  you  the 
letters  be  not  the  nephew  of  one  Vergerio,  a  foreigner  from 

'  The  Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  accompanied  by  two  of  his  ministers,  Brentz  and 
Andr6,  had  met  the  princes  of  Lorraine  at  Saverne.  "  The  Cardinal,"  says  Beza, 
"  having  made  a  present  of  some  silver  plate  to  these  two  good  preachers,  ho  knew 
so  well  how  to  adapt  himself  to  them,  that  this  simple  prince  thought  he  had  more 
than  half  converted  him."  .  .  .     Hint.  Eecl.,  vol.  i.,  p.  691. 

'  There  are  hero  some  words  wanting  in  the  manuscript. 


214  THE    KING   OF   NAVARKE.  [1561. 

Italy,  and  one  of  the  most  barefaced  intriguers  that  ever  ex- 
isted.' There  is  another  clownish  apostate,  Baudouin,^  who  has 
already  apostatized  three  or  four  times  from  Jesus  Christ,  and 
it  is  just  possible  he  may  have  so  insinuated  himself  into  your 
favour,  as  to  deceive  you  with  regard  to  his  character,  if  you 
were  not  apprized  of  it.  We  then  entreat  your  majesty  to  be 
on  your  guard  amid  so  many  snares,  and  again  we  pray  you  in 
the  name  of  God  not  to  allow  yourself  to  be  shaken  hither  and 
thither,  in  order  that  the  word  of  God  may  be  maintained  un- 
impaired, which  it  is  impossible  to  be  otherwise  than  by  preserv- 
ing to  it  its  simplicity.  There  is  a  common  saying  among  the 
people  about  crooked  loaves  in  a  batch,  which  might  teach  you 
to  reject  those  who  endeavour  to  persuade  you  by  dissembling 
pretexts.  For  though  at  first  they  may  make  you  believe  this 
or  that,  we  declare  to  you  in  virtue  of  Him  who  has  given 
us  authority  to  speak,  that  the  issue  will  be  unfortunate,  and  we 
warn  you  of  it  in  good  time,  fearing  lest  you  experience.^  .  .  . 
[Fr.  Orig. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.] 

■  Paolo  Vergerio,  formerly  Bishop  of  Capo-d'Istria  di  Friuli,  and  Legate  of  Pope 
Panl  III.,  at  Ratisbonne.  Gained  over  to  the  Reform  by  Melancthon,  he  gave  up  his 
bishopric,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  the  Grisons.  Being  an  ardent  Lutheran,  he  was 
accused  of  having  devoted  himself  to  the  propagation  of  the  formulary  of  Augsburg, 
from  motives  of  personal  interest. 

'  See  vol.  i.,  p.  133,  note  1.  A  Calvinist  at  Geneva,  a  Catholic  at  Paris,  a  Lutheran  at 
Heidelberg,  Baudouin  had  but  too  well  merited  by  his  religious  inconstancy,  the  stig- 
matizing epithets  of  triple  apostate  (i-piraTroirrar/js)  and  outcast  [iKJioXtjxOi).  A  deser- 
ter from  all  communions,  he  had  been  favourably  received  by  the  King  of  Navarre, 
who  counted  on  employing  him  usefully  in  effecting  a  reconciliation  between  the 
parties. 

'Without  date.  The  end  is  wanting.  But  the  date  is  furnished  us  by  a  letter 
of  Calvin  to  Bullinger  of  the  5th  November,  1561,  in  which  we  remark  the  followiug 
passage  : — "  Long  ago  I  had  discovered  that  the  devil  was  plotting,  by  clandestine 
arts,  a  thing  which  is  now  very  apparent,  and  three  months  before  I  had  carefully 
reminded  the  King  of  Navarre  to  be  on  his  guard  against  snares."  The  letter  to 
which  he  alludes  in  this  passage  is  then  of  the  month  of  August,  1561 


1561.]  THEODORE  BEZA.  215 


Devi.— To  Theodore  Beza.' 

Death  of  Guillaume  de  Trie — Scarcity  of  ministers  at  Geneva. 

Geneva,  27th  August,  1561. 

I  am  obliged  to  dictate  tliis  letter  to  you  from  bed,  and  in  the 
deepest  affliction  from  the  loss  of  my  dear  friend  De  Yarennes,^ 
who  has  hitherto  been  my  principal  stay  and  comfort  in  all  my 
troubles.  One  thing  affords  me  no  slight  consolation  in  my 
sorrow,  which  is  that  nothing  could  have  been  more  calm  than 
the  manner  of  his  death,  which  he  seemed  to  invite  with  out- 
stretched arms  as  cheerfully  as  if  it  had  been  some  delicious 
enjoyment.  His  disease  was  mortal  from  the  beginning,  but  it 
was  only  the  day  before  yesterday  towards  the  evening  that  we 
began  to  give  up  all  hopes.  He  suddenly  set  in  order  all  his 
domestic  affairs,  and  so  expeditiously  indeed  that  he  had  finished 
everything  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  and  yet  he  omitted  nothing. 
After  that,  as  if  he  had  taken  farewell  of  his  illness,  and  had 
done  with  this  earthly  life,  all  his  thoughts  and  conversation 
turned  only  on  eternal  happiness.  His  discourse  was  like  that 
of  a  man  in  perfect  health.  His  life  was  protracted  till  the 
commencement  of  yesterday  night.     For  one  hour  only  he  was 

'  To  my  well  beloved  brother,  Monsieur  de  Challone,  at  court. 

He  had  arrived  the  20th  of  August,  and  received  the  most  flattering  welcome 
from  the  queen  mother,  and  the  principal  Protestant  Seigneurs.  Hist.  Eccl.,  vol.  i.  pp. 
496,  497. 

"  See  vol.  ii.  p.  93.  Guillaume  de  Trie,  Seigneur  de  Varennes,  was  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  members  of  that  French  emigration,  which  gave  to  Geneva  Jean  de 
Bud6,  Charles  de  Jonvillers,  and  the  brothers  Colladon.  He  inhabited  a  house  close 
by  Calvin's  in  the  Rue  des  Chanoines.  From  the  year  1549,  the  period  of  his  es 
tablishment  at  Geneva,  he  had  constantly  lived  on  intimate  terms  with  the  Reformer, 
with  whose  sentiments  he  entirely  concurred.  He  showed  this  in  a  particular  manner 
by  being  the  first  to  denounce  to  a  Catholic  gentleman  of  Lyons  the  heresy  of  Servetus, 
thus  provoking  the  first  judicial  pursuits,  which  were  terminated  at  Vionne,  as  at 
Geneva,  by  a  capital  condemnation.  The  letters  of  Guillaume  do  Trie  to  Claude 
Arneys  his  cousin,  attributed  without  reason  to  Calvin  himself,  and  inserted  in  the 
Mimoirea  de  I'Abbe  d'Artigny,  vol.  iii.  p.  ,  are  a  proof  with  what  equal  horror  the 
negations  of  Servetus,  were  regarded  by  both  Catholics  and  the  Reformed,  a  horror 
which  caused  the  destruction  of  the  unfortunate  Spanish  innovator. 


216  THEODORE    BEZA.  [1561. 

deprived  of  tlie  faculty  of  speech,  but  he  showed  signs  of  unim- 
paired intelligence,  till  he  breathed  his  last,  and  he  expired  with 
such  tranquillity  that  no  one  of  us  could  mark  the  transition 
from  life  to  death.     He  then  is  happy — I  wretched.' 

At  your  departure  lately  two  things  escaped  my  memory 
about  which  I  had  resolved  to  consult  you.  You  are  aware  that 
we  had  changed  our  resolution  respecting  De  Collonges,  and  de- 
termined that  no  successor  should  be  appointed  to  replace  him, 
and  we  did  so  because  his  stay  with  the  duchess  could  not  be  of 
long  duration.  We  on  the  contrary  from  the  smallness  of  our 
number  are  unequal  to  our  task.  Three  days  after  your  de- 
parture, Anduse  was  laid  up  with  the  gout,  and  Colladon  with  a 
fever.  It  is  necessary  that  Collonges  and  Merlin  consult  each 
other,  which  of  the  two  with  least  inconvenience  and  loss  can 
return  to  us  as  speedily  as  possible.  The  necessity  of  the  case 
will  be  a  sufficient  apology.  I  wished  to  send  you  word  in  the 
second  place,  that  Hugh  Reni  is  still  detained  a  prisoner,  and 
that  you  ought  to  undertake  the  charge  of  having  him  set  at 
liberty,  otherwise  with  such  unjust  and  unprincipled  judges  he 
might  rot  in  his  dungeon.  There  is  another  in  nearly  the  same 
condition  that  I  imagined  had  been  liberated.  He  is  the  son- 
in-law  of  M.  Passy,  who  wrote  that  he  did  not  think  it  lawful 
for  him  to  comply  with  the  prescribed  condition,  nor  that  he 
should  make  any  promise  for  the  time  to  come.  He  does  not 
object  to  be  banished.  His  father-in-law  with  great  earnest- 
ness commends  him  to  your  care,  I  too  at  his  request ;  and  that 
he  may  understand  that  his  entreaties  are  not  of  small  im- 
portance, you  will  not  only  undertake  this  office,  but  in  your 
first  letter  you  will  render  an  account  of  your  activity  in  the 
affair. 

Farewell,  most  worthy  brother.     May  the  Lord  assist,  govern, 

'  AVe  read  in  Beza's  answer  to  Calvin  :  "  This  is  our  condition,  that  we  should  in- 
struct one  another,  not  less  by  our  death  than  by  our  life.  On  my  departure  my  mind 
presaged  something  unfortunate  respecting  our  friend  De  Varennes.  But  since  he  has 
tftken  his  departure  from  among  us  in  so  blessed  a  manner,  I  rejoice  that  I  was  a  false 
prophet.  For  nothing  evil  has  happened  to  him,  except  this  perhaps  that  by  his  death 
he  has  left  his  friends  in  deep  affliction,  whom  while  he  was  alive  he  never  offended. 
He  has  had  the  good  fortune  to  go  before  us,  and  it  is  my  desire  that  we  should 
Bpeedily  follow  him  "     12th  September   1561. 


1561.]  THEODORE  BEZA.  217 

and  protect  you,  Amen.     Salute  mj'-  brethren  and  friends. — 
Yours, 

Charles  Passelius. 

[Lat.  orig.  autogr. — Library  of  Gotha.     Vol-  409,  p.  90- J 


DCVIL— To  Theodore  Beza.> 

Fresh  deaths  at  Geneva — Distrust  of  the  Cardinals  of  Lorraine  and  Ferrara. 

Geneva,  Zd  September,  1561. 

Lest  I  should  have  to  mourn  but  for  one  death,  three  days 
after  that  of  my  friend  De  Varennes,  the  ohlest  pastor  has  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  tomb.  We  have  given  up  all  hopes  respecting 
the  life  of  Baduel.  Yesterday  the  wife  of  our  treasurer,  after 
having  seemed  recovered  from  the  suiFerings  of  child  birth, 
died  suddenly  of  convulsions  of  the  nerves.  And  not  to 
go  on  enumerating  our  losses,  Nicholas  Ignde  was  suffocated 
by  a  catarrh  in  the  short  space  of  nine  hours.  It  is  some 
consolation  that  Beraud  is  gradually  recovering,  as  well  as 
his  wife,  who  was  lately  very  nearly  cut  off  by  a  premature 
delivery.  She  is  now,  however,  doing  well,  and  her  child  is 
alive.  I  lately  asked  you  that  one  of  your  two  colleagues 
should  return  here.  Contrive  to  see  that  done  as  speedily 
as  possible.  If  Des  Gallars  were  at  liberty,  and  the  church 
over  which  he  has  been  set  should  suifer  no  detriment,  we 
should  like  him  to  be  restored  to  us.  But  as  the  matter  was 
uncertain  we  have  thought  proper  not  to  stir  in  it.  Time  will 
show  us  what  is  proper  and  advantageous,  but  I  warn  you  in 
time ;  be  not  put  off  your  guard  by  the  friendship  of  the  Cardinal 
of  Lorraine.     His  brother,  the  Cardinal  of  Ferrara'^  had  also 

'  On  his  arrival  at  court,  the  24th  August,  1561,  Beza  had  found  the  most  favourable 
welcome  from  the  Protestant  nobility,  from  the  regent  Catherine  do  Medieis,  from  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  himself,  who  embracing  him  cordially  said  to  him,  "I  am  happy 
to  have  a  conference  with  you,  to  hear  your  reasons  and  give  you  mine.  You  will 
find  that  I  am  not  so  black  as  I  have  been  painted.'*     Hist.  Eccl.,  vol.  i.  p.  497. 

'The  Cardinal  Hippolite  d'Este,  brother-in-law  of  Renee  of  France,  whom  Calrin 
had  known  at  the  court  of  Ferrara. 

28 


218  THEODORE    BEZA  [1561. 

imposed  upon  me.  For  when  he  lavished  his  caresses  on  me 
here  some  thirteen  years  ago,  he  promised  that  he  would  also  be 
one  of  the  best  of  my  friends.  Beware  then  of  showing  your- 
self too  much  elated  and  too  proud  towards  me,  because  you  see 
it  would  be  easy  for  me  to  retaliate,  especially  as  a  Legate  over- 
tops all  Cardinals  whatsoever. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  and  worthy  brother.  May  the  Lord 
stand  by  you,  govern  and  protect  you,  enrich  you  with  all  gifts, 
and  prepare  you  for  all  battles,  arm  you  with  prudence  against 
snares,  and  fortitude  against  terrors.  Salute  very  carefully  our 
brethren.  All  the  brethren  and  your  friends  here  salute  you. 
Again,  farewell. 

[Caloin's  Lat.  corresp.,  Opera,  ix.  p.  190.J 


DCVIIL— To  Theodore  Beza.^ 

Doubts  respecting  the  efficacy   of   the  Colloquy  of  Poissy — Policy    of  the  Romish 
Prelates — Criticism  of  the  Augsburg  Confession — Divers  particulars. 

Geneva,  10th  September,  1561. 

The  letter  which  you  wrote  to  me  on  the  30th  of  August  was 
put  into  my  hands  yesterday.  While  others  are  feeding  our 
expectations  so  liberally  with  favourable  reports,  it  would  not  be 
surprising  if  you  felt  ashamed  of  that  stinginess  of  yours  which 
has  left  us  almost  famished  for  want  of  news.     If  you  desire  to 

'  It  was  not  without  warm  opposition  that  the  Conferences  of  Poissy  opened  on  the 
9th  September  in  presence  of  the-  king  and  court.  The  council  having  proposed  to 
deliberate,  if  the  Reformed  should  obtain  a  hearing,  the  queen  mother  cut  the  ques- 
tion short  by  declaring  that  she  would  have  no  more  discussion  respecting  a  point  that 
had  already  been  resolved  affirmatively.  On  the  eve  of  the  opening  of  the  synod, 
twelve  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne  presented  themselves  before  the  queen,  to  entreat  her 
not  to  permit  the  ministers  of  heresies  to  have  a  hearing  in  presence  of  the  king;  but 
to  their  great  discontent  the  only  answer  they  received  was  that  the  thing  had  been 
decided,  and  that  it  was  not  possible  to  adopt  any  new  measures  on  that  subject. 
Thus  the  Romish  prelates  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  discussing,  for  the  first 
time,  with  the  ministers  the  principles  of  a  religion  which  they  had  hitherto  con- 
demned without  giving  them  a  hearing;  and  whatever  might  be  the  result  of  the 
conference,  it  was  a  glorious  day  that  in  which  the  gospel  was  about  to  be  freely  ex- 
pounded by  the  organ  of  its  gravest  and  most  eloquent  doctors. 


1561.]  TIIEUDOKE    BEZA.  219 

give  pleasure  to  a  great  many  persons,  profit  in  that  school  in 
which  your  name  is  at  present  so  celebrated,  and  learn  to  lie  a 
little  more  audaciously ;  for  when  others  recount  marvels,  you 
alone  scarcely  let  us  have  one  glimpse  of  hope.  But  joking 
apart,  remember  that  you  are  writing  to  me  who  care  for  no- 
thing more  than  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  present  state 
of  affairs  by  a  plain  narrative.  Whatever  others  may  think,  it 
has  always  been  my  conviction  that  the  boasted  results  of  the 
conference  would  come  to  nothing.  Believe  me,  the  Bishops 
will  never  proceed  to  a  serious  discussion,  not  that  there  are  not 
among  them  some  who,  I  have  no  doubt,  are  actuated  by  laud- 
able desires  and  expectations.  But  those  who  are  at  the  helm 
would  rather  be  driven  to  extreme  courses,  than  forced  to  be 
reduced  to  order  by  such  a  method  as  this.  Wherefore,  I  ima- 
gine that  the  theologians  whom  the  Legate  drags  about  in  his 
train  in  such  bands,  and  those  who  have  come  from  Spain,  will 
be  shown  off  on  this  theatre,  like  those  of  old  who  were  wont 
to  carry  about  empty  trophies  in  a  public  pageant.  In  a  word, 
if  you  listen  to  me,  you  will  give  yourself  no  trouble  about  the 
conference.  If  they  were  at  liberty  to  lay  down  the  conditions, 
there  would  be  some  mock  skirmishing,  but  now  when  they  see 
that  laws  have  been  imposed  on  them,  they  will  openly  decline 
all  contest.  The  arrival  of  the  Legate  will  also  puff  up  their 
presumption  ;  provided  only  the  terrors  which  he  inspires  be  dis- 
sipated, as  I  trust  they  will,  we  need  scarce  look  for  any  other 
result.  Before  this  letter  reach  you,  his  thunders  will  have 
sounded.  Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  he  will  not  launch 
his  thunderbolt,  but  he  will  threaten  most  savagely  before  he 
departs.  This  will  test  you  to  the  quick.  But  should  the  bishops, 
for  the  sake  of  deceiving  you,  present  themselves  to  the  contest, 
you  have  Peter  Martyr,  who,  I  conclude,  by  computing  the  days 
that  have  elapsed  since  his  departure,  must  have  arrived  among 
you  in  time.  Though  I  earnestly  entreated  you  not  to  mention 
my  name,  you  do  not  cease,  as  I  perceive,  to  broach  projects  in 
regard  to  me,  which,  in  my  judgment,  is  not  expedient,*  and  in 

'  It  was  the  wish  of  the  French  ministers  that  the  most  illustrious  interpreter  of 
ibeir  faith,  Calvin  himself,  should  be  summoned  to  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy.  But  he 
could  not  ap[)ear  there  without  exposing  himself  to  the  most  imminent  perils,  "con- 


220  THEODORE   BEZA.  [1561. 

my  preface  upon  Daniel,  I,  on  purpose,  designed  to  preclude 
myself  from  all  access  to  the  conference ;  not  that  I  grudge  my 
pains,  or  would  shun  any  dangers,  but  because  where  I  see  so 
many  fit  and  well  instructed  persons,  I  do  not  imagine  that  my 
presence  could  be  of  much  service,  and  certainly  all  of  them, 
with  the  exception  of  Merlin  and  yourself,  are  sufficiently  ardent 
in  the  cause.     I  have  not  written  to  you  what  I  thought  of  the 
conditions,  partly  because  I  imagined  that  an  opinion  on  that 
subject  would  be  too  late  when  the  business  had  been  transacted, 
and  partly  because  I  was  greatly  pleased  that  what  the  brethren 
had  demanded  had  been  conceded  to  you.     Had  I  been  in  their 
place,  I  should  have  feared  to  prescribe  such  hard  conditions. 
On  their  success  I  partly  congratulate  them.     I  eagerly  expect 
to  hear  the  termination  of  the  affair.     I  suppose  you  keep  in 
mind  what  I  had  declared  to  you  beforehand,  that  there  is  no 
reason  to  fear  but  that,  to  their  great  disgrace,  from  the  conclave 
in  which  they  have  been  secretly  hatching  their  plots,  will  break 
out  a  glorious  victory  for  you,  though  from  the  height  of  their 
grandeur  they  look  down  upon  you.      For  that  reason,  you 
must  beware  lest,  if  you  should  be  too  obstinate  in  asserting 
equal  rights,  the  blame  should  be  cast  on  yourselves.     The  Con- 
fession of  Augsburg,  as  you  know,  is  the  torch  of  our  deadliest 
enemy  to  kindle  a  conflagration  which  will  set  all  France  on 
fire.'     But  it  behoves  you  to  inquire  for  what  purpose  it  should 
be  obtruded  on  you.     The  author  of  it  repented  of  his  work  when 
his  own  faintheartedness  had  always  been  displeasing  to  men 
of  energetic  character.     In  most  parts,  also,  it  is  adapted  to 
the  peculiar  use  of  Germany.     I  forbear  to  mention  that  it  is 
obscure  in  its  conciseness,  and  mutilated  by  the  omission  of 
some  articles  of  capital  importance.     Besides,  it  would  be  ab- 
surd, passing  by  the  Confession  of  the  French,  eagerly  to  adopt 
that  one.     Need  I  mention  what  matter  for  future  contention 
will  be  amassed  by  this  manner  of  proceeding  ?     But  I  am  rea- 
soning just  now  as  if  the  Cardinal  and  his  satellites  sincerely 

Birlcring  the  rage  which  the  enemies  of  the  gospel  had  conceived  against  him,  and 
the  troubles  which  his  very  name  would  excite  in  the  provinces  of  France,  should  it 
be  known  that  he  was  there." — Letter  of  La  Riviere  to  Calvin,  31  July,  1561,  (Lib. 
of  Geneva.) 
•See  page 212. 


l^iil.]  THE   ADMIRAL   COLIGNY.  221 

embraced  that  confession,  whereas  they  are  only  haying  snares 
for  you,  that  the  present  business  being  once  disposed  of  they 
may  throw  every  thing  into  confusion.  To  that  end,  a  pamphlet 
was  published  at  Bale.  I  suspect,  nay,  I  am  almost  certain, 
that  Baudouin  is  the  author  of  it.'  I  should  like  to  give  the 
scoundrel  a  drubbing  according  to  his  deserts,  but  I  am  over- 
whelmed with  the  multiplicity  of  my  private  correspondence, 
and  the  little  vigour  I  once  possessed  begins  to  flag.  I  shall 
persist,  however,  as  far  as  my  strength  will  permit.  I  learn, 
also,  that  I  know  not  what  decree  has  been  published  at  Paris 
respecting  the  connecting  of  history  with  jurisprudence  in  which 
you  are  odiously  reflected  on.  At  present,  Baudouin  is  said  to 
be  concocting  some  new  poison  along  with  his  abettor,  Cassan- 
der.  I  imagine  you  have  it  at  heart  to  procure  us  relief  by  your 
aid.  If  you  loiter  now,  he  who  is  to  come  after  you  will  have 
to  bestir  himself. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  brother,  as  well  as  all  your  asso- 
ciates. May  the  Lord  govern  you  by  the  spirit  of  prudence 
and  fortitude,  may  he  protect  and  bless  your  labours.  My  col- 
leagues send  to  you  all  their  best  wishes.  Our  friends,  also, 
whom  it  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate.  Would  to  God,  that 
one  of  whom  death  has  deprived  us  were  still  in  the  number. 
[Calvin's  Lat.  Corresp. —  Opera,  ix.,  p.  156.] 


DCIX. — To  THE  Admiral  Coligny." 

He  puts  him  on  tis  guard  against  the  Catholic  and  Lutheran  intrigues — Recall  of  the 
minister  Merlin  to  Geneva. 

Geneta,  2Ath  September,  1561 

MoNSEiGNEUR : — I  Can  easily  imagine  that  every  day  you 
have  to  bear  up  against  alarms  that  are  raised  against  you ;  not 

'  See  for  further  details  on  this  subject  the  letter  to  the  Queen  of  Navarre  of  the 
24:th  December,  1561. 

"A  letter  written  during  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  which  began  the  9th  September, 
and  finished  the  24th  October,  1561.  Present  at  the  conferences,  the  Admiral  showed 
himself  every  day  more  resolute  in  pursuing  by  legal  means  the  establishment  of  reli- 
gious liberty  in  France.     Theodore  Beza  preached  several  times  in  his  hotel,  in  pre- 


222  THE    ADMIRAL   COLIGNY.  [1561. 

only  by  those  who  openly  declare  themselves  the  enemies  of  the 
truth  of  God,  but  especially  by  those  trimmers  that  swim  be- 
tween two  currents,  feigning  to  favour  the  good  party  and  yet 
having  all  their  looks  turned  only  towards  the  world  and  en- 
tirely dependent  on  it.'  I  am  quite  sure  that  seeing  them  veer 
and  stagger  in  this  manner  you  are  often  distressed.  But  it 
is  a  good  lesson  for  you,  Monseigneur,  when  there  is  neither 
shore  nor  bottom  in  those  that  are  tossed  by  the  vanity  of  the 
world,  to  fix  the  deeper  your  anchor  in  heaven,  as  we  are  ex- 
horted to  do  by  the  Apostle.  Be  that  as  it  will,  I  pray  you  to 
hold  on  courageously ;  that  is  more  important  than  all  human 
hope,  fortifying  yourself  more  and  more  to  despise  all  the  hin- 
drances which  might  retard  you,  for  we  co.nnot  say  with  St. 
Paul  that  we  have  fought  a  good  fight  to  receive  the  crown  of 
righteousness,  if  we  have  not  completed  our  course.  But  I  take 
it  for  granted  that  He  that  has  so  well  disposed  you  for  his  ser- 
vice, and  displayed  in  you  such  power  of  his  Spirit,  will  not 
leave  his  work  imperfect,  but  will  stay  your  hand  even  to  the  end. 
I  am  even  pretty  well  convinced  that  the  arrival  of  the  Le- 
gate'^ will  have  given  rise  to  some  harder  skirmishing ;  people 
demanding  that  all  examination  of  the  points  in  debate  should 

sence  of  the  most  considerable  personages  of  the  court.  "To-day,"  wrote  he  to  Cal- 
vin, "  I  preached  at  the  Admiral's,  who  kept  me  to  dinner.  After  dinner,  dropped  in 
the  Cardinal  de  Chatillon  and  M.  de  Montmorency,  who  I  see  stand  well  aftected  to  us, 
as,  in  truth,  matters  are  now  set  in  motion  with  a  wonderful  impulse." — Letter  of  the 
25th  August.  MSS.  of  Geneva,  vol.  117.  Another  letter  of  Beza's  to  the  seigneurj', 
mentioned  by  the  registers  of  the  council,  contained  some  familiar  details  which  the 
gravity  of  history  will  not  disdain.  "  The  said  letter  also  mentioned  that  the  Admi- 
ral had  a  parrot  which  kept  continually  screaming  :  Vie,  vie,  la  messe  est  abolie.  (Life, 
life,  the  mass  is  abolished.)  N'oserait-on  parler  de  Dieu  en  tout  lieu  ?  (Should  we 
not  dare  to  speak  of  God  everywhere  ?)  Parlons  de  Dieu  en  tout  lieu.  (Let  us  speak 
of  God  everywhere.) — Extraits  des  Registres.  [This  parrot's  doggerel  is  worth  preserv- 
ing, as  a  characteristic  trait  of  the  times,  but  it  is  impossible  to  render  the  childish 
jingle  of  the  words.] 

'Allusion  to  the  King  of  Navarre  already  gained  over  by  the  Guises.  Beza  giving 
an  account  to  Calvin  of  his  first  interview  with  this  prince,  thus  expressed  himself: — 
"  As  to  the  king,  .  .  .  the  main  point  of  our  conversation  was  that  I  said  I  was  greatly 
afraid  that  very  soon  he  would  not  be  so  delighted  with  my  arrival,  unless  he  thought 
of  acting  otherwise.  He  began  to  laugh,  and  I  replied  it  was  in  sober  earnest  he 
ought  to  think  of  it." — Letter  already  quoted. 

'  The  Cardinal  of  Ferrara,  Hippolite  d'Este.  He  was  charged  by  Pope  Pius  IV.  to 
break  up  the  Conferences  of  Poissy'  in  demanding  that  all  the  religious  questions 
should  be  brought  before  the  Council  of  Trent, 


15G1.]  THE    ADMIRAL    COLIGNY.  223 

be  referred  to  this  fine  council.  Now,  Monseif^neur,  it  seems  to 
me  that  for  the  diffident  who  tremble  even  at  their  own  sliadow, 
here  is  the  true  point  for  blunting  the  shock  of  the  council.  It 
is  that  the  kinc;,'  without  making  more  ample  declaration  of  wish- 
ing to  change  the  religion,  should  join  with  the  Queen  of  England, 
the  German  princes,  the  Swiss  who  belong  to  our  party,  to  pro- 
test and  declare  the  nullity  of  this  Council  of  Trent,  both  be- 
cause of  the  place  where  it  is  held,  which  is  not  of  safe  access, 
and  because  it  is  neither  free  nor''^  .  .  so  as  to  be  able  to  treat 
independently  of  the  points  that  are  to-day  in  litigation,  seeing 
that  one  party  alone  sits  in  it  to  judge  every  thing  according  to 
their  good  pleasure,  without  the  other  party  being  heard,  or 
having  any  opportunity  afforded  them  of  maintaining  the  doc- 
trine which  the  bishops  already  consider  as  condemned  without 
entering  into  further  examination  or  debate. 

I  know  that  the  German  princes  will  reqyiire  them  to  specify 
more  distinctly  the  causes  of  opposition,  nay,  that  they  will 
wish  to  saddle  them  with  their  Confession  of  Augsburg.'^  But 
the  king  will  indeed  have  influence  to  make  them  remain  satis- 
fied with  a  more  simple  declaration,  as  it  will  not  occasion  them 
any  prejudice.  Especially  I  entreat  you,  Monseigneur,  to  hold 
firm  and  not  allow  the  Confession  of  Augsburg  to  be  brought 
into  the  question,  which  would  only  be  a  torch  to  light  the  fire 
of  discord.  And,  in  point  of  fact,  it  is  such  a  meagre  compo- 
sition, so  feeble  and  so  obscure,  that  it  is  impossible  to  stop 
short  at  its  conclusions.  As  to  the  rest  of  the  Swiss,  it  would 
be  expedient  that  the  king  should  exhort  them  all  to  join  with 
him  in  such  a  protestation,  which  has  no  other  object  than  to 
reform  abuses  in  the  church,  since  to  accomplish  this  end  it  is 
necessary  the  points  of  difference  should  be  well  ascertained 
and  discussed,  and  the  two  parties  heard  each  in  its  own  cause. 

'  The  young  king,  Charles  IX.  The  queen  mother,  then  docile  to  the  inspirations 
of  the  Chnncellor  L'Hopital,  and  favourable  to  the  Protestant  party,  seemed  sincerely 
to  desire  a  reform  of  the  church. 

'  A  word  illegible  in  the  manuscript.     Perhaps  universal. 

*  Several  theologians  of  Tubingen,  Jacques  Buclin,  Jacques  Andre,  and  Balthazar 
Bidenaeh,  had  just  arrived  at  Poissy.  The  Comte  Palatine  had  also  sent  the  doctors, 
Michel  Diller  and  Jean  Boquin,  who,  saj's  Beza,  did  not  agree  with  the  three  others, 
but  supported  the  Confession  of  the  French  churches. —  Hist.  EccL,  vol. !.,  pp.  615,  616. 


224  THE   ADMIRAL   COLIGNY.  [1561. 

I  say  this,  because  the  king  instead  of  shrinking  from  it  will 
make  overtures  for  the  renewing  of  the  alliance ;  not  that  this 
will  have  any  immediate  results,  but  after  they  have  fretted  for 
some  time,  I  assure  you,  that  this  offer  will  produce  an  excel- 
lent effect  a  year  after.' 

I  have  also  to  beg  of  you,  Monseigneur,  that  considering  our 
urgent  necessity  you  will  be  pleased  to  release  M.  de  Montroy 
from  his  engagement.^  For  since  his  departure  we  have  lost 
three  members  of  our  society.  M.  Beza,^  and  he  who  went  to 
join  the  duchess,"*  are  absent.  Our  burden  then  is  too  heavy, 
unless  we  be  speedily  relieved.  ...  I  have  prolonged  the 
term  as  much  as  I  could,  but  I  am  obliged  to  beg  of  you  not  to 
be  offended  if,  at  least,  he  make  a  tour  hither  to  relieve  us  till 
God  have  provided  for  us  otherwise.  I  believe,  Monseigneur, 
that  in  your  wisdom  and  equity  you  will  not  take  it  amiss  that 
he  should  return  t(j  the  flock  to  which  he  is  bound,  and  which 
he  has  not  quitted.  It  is  possible,  also,  that  God  will  send  to 
you  in  his  stead  another  so  suitable  that  you  shall  have  no  rea- 
son to  regret  his  absence.  This  is  not  to  insinuate  that  those 
who  have  sent  him  to  you  are  not  always  equally  ready  to  busy 
themselves  in  rendering  you  a  service,  but  I  assure  you  that  for 

'  Swisserland  was  divided  into  two  camps — the  Catholic  cantons,  the  natural  allies 
of  France,  and  the  Reformed  cantons,  which  a  tolerant  policy  might  dispose  to  enter 
into  the  circle  of  the  alliance  and  the  military  capitulations. 

'  The  Minister  Merlin.  The  Admiral  in  giving  him  permission  to  return,  wrote  in 
these  terms  to  the  seigneurs  of  Geneva  : — "  Messieurs  : — In  consequence  of  what  M. 
d'Espeville  has  written  to  me,  I  send  you  back  M.  de  Montroy,  the  present  bearer, 
whom  I  have  always  kept  near  my  person,  and  I  will  tell  you  that  I  have  received 
from  him  as  much  satisfaction  by  his  exhortations  and  excellent  conduct  as  I  ever 
have  from  any  man.  So  that  I  will  pray  you  still.  Messieurs,  if  it  be  at  all  possible 
that  you  can  do  without  him,  that  you  would  be  kind  enough  to  do  me  the  favour  of 
letting  me  have  him.  I  mean  that  you  should  try  to.  procure  for  yourselves  some 
minister  in  your  neighbourhood,  where  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  do  so,  and 
that  you  would  consent  to  send  back  M.  de  Montroy  to  me  to  take  up  his  residence  with 
me.  For  desiring  to  make  the  profession  which  I  wish  to  make,  I  should  be  much 
distressed  not  to  have  a  minister.  In  doing  this  you  will  bind  me  still  more  to  you. 
Whereupon,  I  commend  myself  most  affectionately  to  your  indulgent  favour,  and  I 
will  supplicate  the  Creator,  Messieurs,  to  grant  you  long  and  happy  life. — From  St. 
Germain  en  Laye,  this  6th  October,  1561.  Your  most  devoted  friend, 

Chastillon." 
3  Then  deputy  at  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy. 
*  Francis  de  Morel,  almoner  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara. 


1561.]  MADAME   DE   COLIGNY.  225 

the  present  moment  we  are  in  such  straits  that  the  instance  I  give 
you  of  our  difficulties  deserves  to  be  favourably  received.' 

Whereupon,  Monseigneur,  having  humbly  commended  myself 
to  your  indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  Father  and  our 
Lord  to  fortify  you  with  invincible  constancy,  to  increase  in  you 
the  gifts  of  his  Spirit,  and  to  keep  you  under  his  protection. 
[Fr.  Cupi/. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCX. — To  Madame  de  Coligny.' 

lie  congratulates  her  on  her  perseverance  amidst  many  temptations  and  perils. 

Geneva,  24r7i  Septemher,  15GI. 

I  should  accuse  myself  for  having  so  long  forborne  to  write 
to  you,  were  it  not  that  he  who  makes  up  by  his  word  for  the 
want  of  my  letters  must  have  given  you  sufficient  reasons  for 
my  silence.  I  have  been  led  to  suppose,  also,  that  you  have 
accepted,  instead  of  letters  addressed  to  yourself,  the  duty  which 
I  have  fulfilled  in  that  respect  towards  your  husband.  1  have 
not  ceased  in  the  mean  time  to  thank  God  for  having  so  con- 
tinued his  grace  in  you  that,  amid  many  temptations  and  great 
difficulties,  you  have  constantly  persevered  in  his  service  to  such  a 
degree,  as  to  be  an  example  to  those  who  were  too  weak  or  too  timid. 
Now,  Madame,  you  ought  to  reflect  that  our  merciful  Father 
having  advanced  you  thus  far,  you  are  so  much  the  more  bound 
to  make  every  effort,  till  you  have  entirely  finished  your  course. 
1  pray  you  then  to  practise  the  rule  which  St.  Paul  gives  us  by 
his  own  example — to  forget  the  things  which  are  behind — not 
once  to  look  at  them,  and,  as  if,  having  thus  laboured,  you  had 

•  The  Minister  Merlin  became  again,  some  years  afterwards,  the  almoner  of  Co- 
ligny.  He  was  with  the  Admiral  on  the  night  of  the  24th  August,  1572,  and  almost 
miraculously  survived  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

'  She  had  quitted  the  Chateau  of  Chatillon-sur-Loing,  her  usual  residence,  to  go  to 
St.  Germain  where  the  court  was  at  that  time.  In  his  letters  to  Calvin,  Boza  bears 
testimony  to  the  firmness  of  Madame  the  Amiralo,  and  of  her  niece,  the  Princess  of 
Conde  : — "  With  a  troop  a  hundred  times  greater  than  I  could  have  wished,  I  was  con- 
ducted to  the  house  of  Madame  the  Princess,  and  Madame  the  Amiralc,  whom  I 
found  marvellously  well  disposed." — Letter  already  quoted. 

29 


226  MADAME    DE    COLIGNY.  fl561. 

yet  done  nothing  to  reach  forward  to  that  which  remains,  till 
you  have  attained  the  mark  to  which  we  should  be  ever  stretch- 
ing during  our  whole  life.  For  if  this  holy  apostle  having 
borne  himself  so  valiantly,  and  having  supported  combats  so 
admirable  of  every  kind,  and  during  so  long  a  space  of  time, 
confesses  nevertheless  that  he  has  not  attained  to  what  he  was 
aspiring  after,  and  in  order  to  take  better  courage  accounts  that  he 
would  have  commenced  in  vain,  unless  he  held  on,  what  should 
we  think  of  ourselves,  who  are  still  very  far  from  having  made 
so  much  progress?  Thus,  Madame,  I  pray  you,  whatever  hap- 
pens, never  be  weary  of  employing  yourself  in  the  service  of  so 
good  a  Father ;  as  also  I  am  convinced  that  you  are  not  of  the 
number  of  those  who  would  wish  to  obtain  a  discharge  after  a 
certain  term  of  service,  persuading  themselves  that  what  they 
have  already  done  is  quite  sufficient.  Now  God  does  not  accept 
of  us  on  such  a  condition ;  but  as  he  desires  to  remain  our  heri- 
tage, so  he  also  desires  that  we  should  remain  his  followers,  to  de- 
dicate ourselves  entirely  to  his  service,  whether  in  life  or  in  death. 
For,  in  truth,  if  we  die  not  for  him  and  in  him ;  that  is  to  say, 
in  his  obedience  and  in  the  faith  and  hope  of  his  fatherly  kind- 
ness, we  cannot  attain  to  that  heavenly  life  which  has  been  pur- 
chased for  us  at  so  dear  a  price.  Though  the  world  should 
turn,  change,  and  be  tossed  about  by  every  wind,  let  us  remain 
firm  in  this  conviction,  and  set  up  our  rest  in  it,  for  there  is  no 
other  prosperity  nor  happiness  except  that  of  being  the  people 
of  God,  according  as  it  is  said  in  the  Psalm ;  and  if  the  world 
does  not  taste  that  happiness,  let  us  recognize  that  God  accom- 
plishes in  us,  by  a  singular  privilege,  what  is  said  elsewhere, 
that  he  makes  all  those  that  fear  him  to  feel  in  secret  the 
infinite  greatness  of  his  bounty,  of  which  he  will  give  you  an 
assured  experience,  even  in  this  perishable  life,  while  you  are 
waiting  to  be  received  into  that  life  everlasting  for  which  we 
hope,  in  order  fully  to  enjoy  what  is  now  concealed  from  our 
senses. 

Madame,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indul- 
gent favour,  etc. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


15G1.]  THE   COMTESSE   DE   ROYE.  227 

DCXI. — To    THE    COMTESSE    DE    ROYE.' 
He  encourages  her  to  persevere  with  her  daughters  in  the  profession  of  the  truth. 

Geneva,  2ith  September,  15G1. 

Madame: — If  I  have  delayed  so  long  in  answering  your 
letters,  it  is  partly  because  I  did  not  know  whither  to  address 
mine,  and  partly  from  shame,  inasmuch  as  I  wms  unable  to 
satisfy  your  holy  desire,  for  you  asked  me  for  three  men  capable 
of  being  employed  in  the  service  of  God  and  of  his  church,  de- 
signating the  places  where  you  intended  to  send  them,  in  order 
that  I  might  be  the  more  incited  to  make  all  diligence.  The 
same  message  had  been  already  conveyed  to  me  orally  by  a 
man  of  Noyon,  who  said  he  had  been  charged  with  such  a  com- 
mission. 

Now  I  assure  you,  Madame,  that  we  are  at  the  present 
moment  so  unprovided  with  ministers,  that  I  preferred,  not 
having  found  suitable  persons,  to  delay  the  execution  of  my 
commission  rather  than  send  persons  that  might  not  have  given 
you  satisfaction.  I  wish  indeed  that  I  had  had  a  less  valid  excuse. 
But  when  M.  Beza  shall  have  confirmed  it,  I  hope  you  will 
accept  it.  For  the  rest,  Madame,  I  have  much  reason  to  glorify 
God  for  the  great  courage  with  which  he  has  inspired  you  for 
advancing  the  reign  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  for  causing 
you  to  make  a  frank  and  pure  declaration  of  following  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  in  life  and  in  death,  since  all  our  happiness  stands 
in  being  disciples  of  this  great  Master,  and  subjects  of  this 
sovereign  King,  who  has  been  sent  to  us  from  heaven  to  with- 
draw us  from  perdition  to  the  hope  of  eternal  salvation,  which 
he  has  purchased  for  us. 

'  Madeleine  de  Mailly,  Comtesse  de  Roye,  sister  of  the  Admiral  de  Coligny,  and 
mother-in-law  of  the  Prince  de  Cond6.  Endowed,  says  the  historian  De  Thou,  with 
a  superior  genius  and  an  intrepid  mind,  this  lady  embraced  the  Reform  at  the  same 
time  as  her  brothers,  the  Seigneurs  of  Chatillon,  shared  the  perils  of  the  Prince  of 
Cond6  her  son-in-law,  recovered  her  liberty  like  him  at  the  death  of  Francis  II.,  and 
showed  herself  constantly  faithful  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformed,  in  good  as  well  as  in 
bad  fortune.  Living  at  Strasbourg  during  the  first  war  of  religion,  she  returned  to 
France  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Auiboise,  and  died  in  1567. 


228  THE    COMTESSE   DE   ROTE.  [1561. 

Wherefore  without  this  heritage,  woe  to  all  the  riches,  de- 
lights and  honoui'S  of  the  world.  And  yet  as  we  see  how  this 
inestimable  treasure  is  despised  by  most  men,  and  held  in  no 
esteem,  so  much  the  more  reason  have  you  for  rejoicing  that 
God  has  made  you  a  partaker  of  the  privilege  of  renouncing  all 
the  vanities  of  this  world,  which  dazzle  our  eyes  and  cause  us 
to  float  in  continual  anxiety,  to  find  a  true  rest  and  abide  therein. 
You  have  also  another  blessing  in  addition  to  those  which  have 
been  already  bestowed  on  you,  in  seeing  your  daughters,  the 
princess  as  well  as  her  sister,'  keeping  you  company  in  tend- 
ing towards  the  chief  end  of  our  existence,  giving  themselves  up 
with  one  accord  and  dedicating  their  lives  to  the  obedience  of 
the  pure  truth.  Now,  Madame,  though  I  have  heard  with  what 
zeal  you  desire  to  serve  God,  nevertheless  I  pray  you  to  take 
more  and  more  courage,  striving  to  overcome  all  the  obstacles 
that  might  retard  you,  as  you  may  be  sure  you  shall  always 
have  many.  And  indeed  these  are  the  exercises  of  our  faith,  to 
fight  against  all  the  temptations  which  Satan  devises  and  em- 
ploys to  turn  us  aside  from  the  straight  path.  Aim  then, 
Madame,  at  this  perseverance,  not  doubting  but  the  heavenly 
Father  will  conduct  you  even  to  the  end,  as  he  has  a  more  than 
singular  care  about  your  salvation,  and  that  Jesus  Christ,  that 
good  Shepherd,  who  has  undertaken  the  charge  of  you,  will  keep 
and  protect  you. 

Madame,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indulgent 
favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  govern  you  by 
his  Holy  Spirit,  and  increase  you  in  all  good  and  prosperity. 
\Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.1 

'  Eleonore  de  Roye,  Princess  of  Conde,  and  Charlotte  de  Roye  her  sister,  wife  of 
the  Comte  de  la  Rochefoucauld. 


1561.]  THEODORE  BEZA.  229 


DCXII.— To  Theodore  Beza.' 

He  compliments  him  on  his  noble  attitude  at  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  and  rejoices  at 

his  success. 

Geneva,  24th  Sejitemher,  1561. 

If  you  receive  from  me  two  letters  at  the  same  time,  lie  who 
undertook  the  charge  of  them  must  bear  the  blame  of  it  for  his 
inactivity.  Certainly,  as  messengers  were  at  his  disposal  every 
third  day,  ho  cannot  exculpate  himself  for  having  neglected  his 
duty  till  the  ninth.  We  had  been  amply  informed  from  other 
quarters  of  the  magnificent  transaction  of  which  you  write  to 
us ;  but  it  was  far  more  agreeable  to  have  the  whole  affair  set  as 
it  were  before  our  eyes,  and  glean  our  information  from  your 
own  testimony,  than  to  listen  to  the  accounts  of  others,  who  for 
the  most  part  vitiate  the  purity  of  history  by  their  fondness  for 
embellishment.  That  was  an  auspicious  day  in  which  liberty 
was  secured  for  the  churches,  a  liberty  which  they  will  be  obliged 
to  concede,  and  which  it  will  be  most  difficult  for  them  to  take 
away. 

Your  speech  is  now  before  us,  in  which  God  in  a  marvellous 
manner  directed  your  mind  and  your  tongue.  That  it  stirred 
up  the  bile  of  the  holy  fathers  was  an  inevitable  consequence, 
but  you  could  not  help  that,  unless  you  had  been  inclined  to  ter- 
giversate and  expose  yourself  to  their  taunts.  I  am  surprised 
that  they  broke  out  into  tumultuous  murmurs  for  that  single 
reason,  when  in  other  passages  they  had  been  no  less  hardly  hit. 
But  it  is  a  foolish  pretence  that  the  conference  has  been  broken 

'  The  letter  of  Beza  to  Calviu,  containing  an  account  of  the  first  sitting  of  the  Col- 
loquy, still  preserved  in  the  Library  of  Geneva,  is  unfortunately  truncated,  but  all  the 
details  of  that  important  day  are  well  known,  and  we  can  read  in  divers  collections, 
the  fine  harangue  pronounced  by  Theodore  de  Beza  in  the  name  of  the  Reformed 
churches.  The  orator  showed  himself  full  of  moderation  and  dignity,  and  was  listened 
to  with  the  greatest  attention,  till  the  moment  when  he  declared  "  that  the  body  of 
Christ,  though  spiritually  communicated  in  the  Lord's  supper,  is  as  far  removed  from 
the  bread  as  heaven  is  distant  from  the  earth."  The  murmurs  of  the  prelates  who 
interrupted  him  were  less  the  expression  of  a  private  dissent,  than  the  revelation 
of  the  absolute  incompatibility  existing  between  the  Church  of  Rome  and  that  of 
Christ. 


230  THEODORE   BEZA.  [1561. 

up  for  this  cause  of  offence,  for  they  would  have  found  a  hundred 
others,  they  who  now  so  eagerly  snap  at  one,  as  if  with  some 
modifications  they  assented  to  the  rest  of  our  doctrine.  This 
circumstance  then  also  fell  out  very  fortunately.  I  rejoice  that 
De  Spina  has  frankly  and  publicly  declared  his  adherence  to  the 
cause  of  Christ.  In  a  letter  which  I  have  written  to  him  I  ex- 
hort him  to  persevere.'  I  am  anxious  to  learn  with  what  adroit- 
ness the  Cardinal  will  attempt  to  put  a  good  face  on  these  pro- 
ceedings.^ An  end  has  been  put  as  I  conjecture  to  all  lighter 
bickering,  and  yet  I  do  not  apprehend  that  there  will  be  any 
serious  contest.  Now  though  I  have  advised  you  not  to 
demand  too  promptly  your  dismissal,  nevertheless  the  Legate 
will  do  me  a  welcome  service  if  he  send  you  off  as  speedily  as 
possible.  It  is  with  truth  that  you  speak  of  the  remains  of  my 
friends,  for  among  the  few  that  have  been  spared  to  me,  I  seem 
to  myself  to  stand  almost  alone.  All  our  colleagues  very  warmly 
salute  you. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  brother.  May  the  Lord  always 
govern  you,  strengthen  you  with  invincible  constancy  and 
courage,  stand  by  you  in  your  holy  labours,  and  preserve  you 
safe  and  uninjured.  I  desire  to  salute  all  your  associates.  As 
often  as  you  shall  keep  silence  longer  than  ten  days,  which  has 
now  happened  to  you  the  second  time,  I  shall  proclaim  you  a 
sluggard. 

[Calvin's  Lat.  corresp.,  Opera,  ix.  p.  157.1 

'  Jean  de  Spina,  an  old  monk  and  celebrated  Catholic  divine,  converted  to  the  Re- 
formed faith.  Beza  announced  in  the  following  terms  this  event  to  Calvin,  "De 
Spina  has  fairly  joined  us  and  submitted  himself  to  the  judgment  of  the  church.  We 
on  our  part,  with  every  demonstration  of  joy,  have  held  out  to  him  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship  and  have  clearly  concluded  that  that  day  has  shone  out  a  most  auspicious 
one  for  us." 

=  The  reply  of  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine,  though  very  skilfully  conceived,  but  half- 
satisfied  the  assembly.  He  himself  recognized  the  superiority  of  Beza  by  this  avowal, 
"  I  wish  he  had  been  dumb,  or  that  we  had  been  deaf." 


15G1.]  THE    COMTE   OF   ERBACII.  231 


DCXIII. — To    THE    COMTE    OF   ErBACH.' 

lie  urges  him  to  employ  his  influence  to  prevent  orery  attempt  to  introduce  the  Con- 
fession of  Augsburg  into  France. 

Geneva,  ZOth  Septemher,  1561. 

It  is  against  my  inclinations  that  I  am  now  troublesome  in 
writing  to  you,  most  noble  and  illustrious  seigneur,  for  consider- 
ing the  distance  that  separates  us,  my  letter  cannot  convey  to  you 
any  information  which  has  not  become  obsolete,  and  which  conse- 
quently cannot  much  interest  you.  But  in  the  present  moment 
a  just  motive,  or  rather  necessity,  urges  me  to  address  you,  for 
I  have  been  given  to  understand  that  the  most  illustrious  Prince 
Palatine,  and  other  confederated  princes,  having  decided  upon 
sending  an  embassy  to  France,  are  still  deliberating  among  them- 
selves respecting  the  instructions  to  be  given  to  its  members, 
and  that  thus  the  expedition  has  been  hitherto  suspended.  If, 
then,  I  appear  to  mix  myself  up  with  this  business  more  inti- 
mately than  my  condition  warrants,  I  entreat  you  to  pardon, 
with  your  usual  indulgence,  my  solicitude  should  I  labour  to  meet 
a  danger  which  already  presents  itself  so  palpably  to  my  obser- 
vation. For  I  not  only  suspect  but  I  distinctly  perceive  that  a 
great  many  persons  are  obstinately  bent  upon  obtruding  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg  on  the  French.  The  Duke  of  AVurtem- 
berg  had  already  made  the  same  attempt  four  months  ago,  and 
Brentz,  by  the  suggestion  of  the  devil,  certainly  has  actively 
and  zealously,  though  fraudulently,  busied  himself,  that  by  pre- 
senting to  them  the  absurdity  of  his  doctrine  of  ubiquity  he 
might  fascinate  our  French  brethren.  How  pernicious  that 
would  prove,  I  shall  briefly  explain.  First,  a  Confession  has 
been  published  long  ago  by  all  the  French  churches,  to  which 
every  one  who  is  admitted  into  the  rank  of  a  pastor  gives  his 
assent  by  a  solemn  subscription.  The  same  Confession  has 
been  repeatedly  presented  to  the  royal  council.     In  an  assem- 

'  See  the  Letter,  page  56.  This  new  letter  to  the  Comte  Eberard  bore  the  following 
superscription  : — "  To  the  high-born  and  most  noble  Comte  of  Erbach,  high  chamber- 
lain of  the  Palatine  court,  my  very  honoured  and  esteemed  seigneur." 


232  OOMTE   OF   ERBACII.  [1561. 

bly  of  all  the  princes  and  bishops,  the  king  lately  received  the 
same  from  the  hands  of  our  brother  Beza,  and  delivered  it  to 
the  cardinals  and  bishops  that  the  discussions  of  the  colloquy 
might  turn  upon  it.     What  then  could  be  more  absurd  than  to 
break  off  a  course  of  proceedings  so  auspiciously  commenced? 
Should  no  other  damage  accrue  from  such  a  proceeding  except 
the  delay,  yet  even  that  should  be  carefully  guarded  against. 
But  if  the  princes  now  interfere  with  a  new  Confession,  not 
only  they  will  bring  to  nought  all  the  noble  transactions  in 
which  the  favour  of  God  has  been  so  marvellously  conspicuous, 
but  by  an  obstacle  worse  than  detrimental  they  will  overturn 
all  our  hopes  for  the  future.     For  the  Papists  will  eagerly  lay 
hold  of  this  subject  of  quarrelling ;  and  those  among  them  who 
excel  in  craftiness,  after  pretending  in  the  first  synod  that  they 
are  satisfied,  as  soon  as  matters  shall  have  taken  a  new  turn, 
and  they  perceive  the  French  Confession  annihilated,  will  begin 
to  direct  their  attacks  elsewhere.     And  what  is  to  be  thought 
of  the  Germans  prescribing  laws  to  us,  and  dictating  to  us,  as 
if  we  were  children  ?     It  cannot  escape  your  singular  perspica- 
city how  plausible  an  argument  this  will  furnish.     In  addition 
to  that,  it  will  be  difficult  to  violate  the  agreement  which  all 
the  pious  have  come  to,  and  which  they  have  publicly  attested. 
Unless,  then,  the  princes  avowedly  wish  not  only  to  throw  into 
confusion  their  happy  commencements,  but  to  destroy  entirely 
the  fruits  which  the  incredible  labour  of  numbers  and  the  blood 
of  so  many  martyrs  have  produced,  let  them  desist  from  this 
inauspicious  conflict.     I  say  conflict,  because,  if  they  oppose 
their  Confession  to  the  one  which  has  been  received,  dreadful 
disturbances  will  spring  from  it.     And  that  no  one  may  doubt 
whence  this  project  has  proceeded,  that  has  been   already  for 
some  time  the  object  of  the  machinations  of  all  those  who  in 
France  are  the  bitterest  enemies  of  Christ,  and  who  are  hurried 
on  by  the  most  deadly  animosity  to  effect  the  ruin  of  his  kingdom, 
I  forbear  to  mention  that  the  Saxon  furies,  Brentz  and  his  ac- 
complices, have  always  made  a  bad  use  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession as  a  kind  of  torch  to  kindle  a  conflagration  by  which 
the  whole  of  Germany  has  been  set  on  fire.     For  that  reason, 
we  ought  to  be  the  more  carefully  on  our  guard  lest  the  conta- 


1561.]  THEODORE  BEZA.  233 

gion  of  tlie  evil  penetrate  into  France.  But  since,  most  excel- 
lent seigneur,  not  only  in  consequence  of  your  affinity,  but  also 
of  your  virtues,  you  possess  very  great  authority  and  influence 
with  your  most  illustrious  prince,  I  have  not  hesitated  familiarly 
to  confide  to  your  friendly  bosom  this  subject  of  anxiety,  in  or- 
der that  you  may  provide  a  remedy  in  time.  I  would  exhort 
you  more  earnestly,  were  I  not  perfectly  assured  that  from  your 
own  remarkable  magnanimity,  and  the  warmth  of  your  zeal, 
you  are  sufficiently  and  more  than  sufficiently,  of  your  own  free- 
will, disposed  to  this  cause.  In  what  regards  my  own  duty,  I 
have  sincerely  and  boldly  reminded  you.  You,  on  yours,  will 
decide  according  to  your  just  discernment  what  shall  be  most 
expedient,  and  your  own  fidelity  and  religious  sentiments  will 
sufficiently  stimulate  you  to  strenuous  efi'orts. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  and  truly  honoured  seigneur. 
May  the  Lord  continue  to  direct  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  adorn 
and  enrich  more  and  more  your  most  distinguished  family  Avith 
every  blessing. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a. J 


DCXIV.— To  Theodore  Beza.' 

Ecclesiastical  news — Apostleship  of  Viret  in  France — Reply  to  Baudouin. 

Geneva,  ]«<  October,  1561. 

Yesterday  I  received  a  couple  of  letters  from  you.  If  the 
bishops  have  been  pleased  or  have  even  been  permitted  to  enter 
into  discussion  with  you,  you  have  already  fairly  entered  upon 

'  Though  the  Colloquy  was  still  ofScially  assembled,  its  task  was  ended.  Theodore 
Beza  having  asked  permission  in  the  sitting  of  the  16th  September  to  reply  on  the 
instant  to  the  speech  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  the  prelates  violently  opposed  his 
demand,  and  the  Cardinal  of  Tournon  declared  that  "in  the  very  Christian  kingdom 
of  France  there  should  be  but  one  faith,  one  law,  one  king."  Discussion  was  then  no 
longer  unfettered,  and  the  conferences  which  continued  for  some  days  with  shut  doors 
had  no  longer  any  object.  They  only  proved  one  thing,  the  impossibility  of  bring- 
ing the  two  churches  to  unity  by  mutual  concessions,  the  duty  for  the  government  of 
pacifying  people's  minds  by  the  application  of  a  principle  of  sage  toleration,  a  grand 
idea  coneeived  by  the  Chancellor  L'Hopital,  and  realized  for  a  moment  by  the  edict 
of  January. 

30 


234  THEODORE    BEZA.  [1561. 

the  conference.     But  unless  all  my  conjectures  very  mucli  de- 
ceive me,  every  hope  of  that  kind  has  now  vanished.     I  wish 
that  at  an  early  day  we  had  an  opportunity  of  embracing  you 
here  safe  and  in  good  health.     But  should  you  see  any  dan- 
ger arising  from  your  too  hurried  departure,  let  us  both  bri- 
dle our  impatience.      Meanwhile,  do  not  expose  yourself  too 
much  to  the  savage  humour  of  those  who  neither  value  your 
life,  nor  the  common  safety  of  the  church.     I  hear  that  you 
are  quite  emaciated,  nor  is  that  wonderful,  considering  how  ab- 
sorbed you  have  been  by  a  multiplicity  of  affairs.     But  though 
you  must  often  give  way  to  necessity,  yet,  unless  you  be  care- 
ful of  your  health,  you  do  not  consult  well  for  your  desires,  nor 
for  the  benefit  of  the  church.     If  you  listen  to  my  advice,  you 
will  follow  up  what  you  have  begun  in  such  a  manner  as  speed- 
ily to  take  leave  of  these  deceitful  maskers,  whose  honied  flat- 
teries savour  of  the  most  deadly  poison.     I  should  be  unwilling 
that  the  others  were  left  destitute  by  you,  but  unless  my  desire 
of  seeing  you  blinds  me,  your  absence  for  a  short  time  will  be 
advantageous.     Only  you  must  wait  for  an  opportunity,  which 
you  should  willingly  seize  when  it  offers  itself.     Bespecting  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg,  I  have  written  most  carefully  to  the 
Comte  of  Erbach,  in  order  that  he  may  check  any  evil  designs. 
I  have  pointed  out  the  fountain-head  of  the  treachery,  and  what 
an  inundation  might  be  expected  to  flow  from  it.     I  admit  what 
you  have  written  to  me  respecting  our  brethren  that,  in  fact, 
they  are  not  at  liberty,  since  their  names  have  been  consigned 
to  the  public  registers.     But  as  my  brother  by  his  arrival  has 
put  an  end  to  all  our  strifes,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  Mer- 
lin's return.     I  dare  not  press  the  matter  with  regard  to  De 
Coulonges,  for  it  is   impossible   to  obtain  the   Duchess's  per- 
mission.    And  even  if  we  had  him  here,  the  inhabitants  of  Bor- 
deaux have  begged  so  eagerly  to  have  him,  that  we  have  no 
hopes  of  being  able  to  retain  him,  and  the  day  before  yesterday 
Chevalier  was  installed  in  his  house.     You  know  what  attacks  I 
had  to  endure  from  the  latter.     At  last,  I  did  not  openly  yield 
to  him,  but  I  put  a  constraint  on  myself,  and  kept  silence. 
Before  your  departure,  you  know  that  we  had  a  discussion  re- 
specting his  successor.     Why  the  aff"air  was  not  yet  settled,  you 


1561.]  THEODORE  BEZA.   '  235 

shall  know  at  length.  The  senate  conceives  that  it  is  freed  from 
all  obligation,  since  by  the  common  decision  of  our  society  a 
simple  discharge  was  asked  for.  But  the  death  of  our  oldest 
pastor  has  made  it  necessary  for  us  to  recall  Merlin.  I  lately 
made  no  mention  of  this  motive ;  yet  it  would  have  been  most 
unfair  for  Vincent  to  have  been  abandoned  by  us  after  having 
incurred  so  much  expense.  But  why  should  I  insist  on  the 
private  rights  of  one  individul,  and  not  rather  plead  that  it  is 
most  infamous  that  the  church  should  be  defrauded  of  its  rights? 
Moreover,  I  add,  that  it  is  your  duty  to  bring  along  with  you,  or 
to  send  a  man  well  versed  in  our  language.  If  Merlin  will  bring 
any  one  along  with  him,  his  arrival  will  be  doubly  welcome  to 
us.  I  entreat  you,  however,  occupy  yourselves  seriously  re- 
specting this  matter.  Among  your  cares,  let  it  not  be  the  last. 
Only  take  care  that  whoever  shall  come  he  may  be  a  pious  man, 
no  pompous  boaster,  but  one  quietly  disposed  to  endure  labour. 
Respecting  his  knowledge  of  the  language,  Merlin  will  judge. 
It  is  not  my  fault  if  those  who  so  eagerly  desire  Viret  have  not 
yet  obtained  their  wish.'  For  the  present,  he  has  gone  to  Mont- 
pellier,  because  he  thought  himself  unequal  to  support  the  colds 
of  this  country  in  winter.  At  the  end  of  the  winter,  he  will  go 
into  Gascony,  and  having  traversed  the  whole  region  of  the 
Garonne  he  will  pass  on  to  the  Loire,  whence  he  will  advance 
as  far  as  Normandy.  I  feel  dissatisfied  that  without  a  cause, 
or  the  least  colour  of  reason,  I  should  be  suspected  by  certain 
persons  of  entertaining  'jealous}^  and  being  hurt  because  I  had 
not  been  summoned  to  France.^  The  Admiral  wrote  to  me 
lately,  just  as  if  an  apology  had  been  necessary  to  appease  my 
irritation.     You,  however,  are  the  best  witness  how  carefully  I 

■  Since  his  secession  from  Lausanne,  Viret  had  exercised  the  ministry  at  Geneva, 
though  already,  he  said,  his  body  was  reduced  to  such  a  state  of  debility  that  he  could 
expect  nothing  except  to  be  interred.  He  asked  then  for  a  leave  of  absence,  which, 
with  much  regret,  was  granted  him  to  go  and  re-establish  his  health  in  the  south  of 
France.  From  all  parts  calls  were  sent  to  the  eloquent  minister  who  had  been  one 
of  the  first  apostles  of  the  Reformation  in  Swisserland,  On  the  30th  of  December, 
the  seigneurs  of  Geneva  consented  to  grant  him  to  the  Church  of  Paris,  "in  hopes 
that  he  would  produce  much  fruit,  and  that  he  would  convert  the  Parliament."  But 
Viret's  health  did  not  permit  him  to  undertake  this  journey,  and  the  last  years  of  his 
apostleship  were  devoted  to  the  churches  of  the  south. 

■  See  page  219 ;  note  1. 


236  THEODORE    BEZA.  [1561. 

shunned  that  office.  I  was  much  dissatisfied  that  when  I  had 
besought  you  at  your  departure  not  to  say  one  word  about  me, 
you  had  not  been  sufficiently  mindful  of  that  duty  which  I 
thought  was  due  to  me.  But  I  am  afraid  that  something  or 
other  has  been  suggested  from  some  other  quarter,  for  there  are 
many  who  judge  of  me  from  their  own  character.  For  the  rest, 
as  glad  and  sorrowful  tidings  are  conveyed  to  you  from  all  the 
provinces,  I  make  no  doubt  but  that  you  are  very  solicitous,  as 
it  is  your  duty,  to  procure  relief  for  the  brethren.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  Auvergne  are  very  worthy  of  compassion,  and  their 
cause  ought,  from  its  justice,  to  conciliate  favour  for  them.  It 
is  the  interest  of  the  whole  church  that  the  Lyonese  should  be 
promptly  relieved.  At  present,  all  over  that  neighbouring  re- 
gion, the  consciences  of  men  are  roused,  as  if  from  their  lethargy. 
One  would  say,  that  they  had  been  stung  by  gadflies.  For 
my  part,  I  answer  that  I  have  a  fear  of  sudden  changes.  For 
why  do  they  now,  at  last,  begin  to  feel  the  evils  to  which  they 
had  been  so  long  callous?  Till  your  return,  they  will  apply 
what  remedies  they  can,  or  as  you  were  wont  jocularly  to  ex- 
press it,  will  follow  the  smell  of  their  own  trail,  but  if  this  mat- 
ter is  to  depend  on  us,  they  will  quickly  lose  the  scent. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  brother,  along  with  M.  Martyr  and 
your  other  colleagues,  to  whom  my  brother  and  I  beg  to  send 
our  best  respects.  May  the  Lord  stand  by  you,  govern  you  by 
his  Spirit,  and  keep  you  in  safety  under  his  protection. 

Yours,  Charles  Passelius. 

A  short  reply  to  Baudouin  is  now  in  the  press,  which  you  will 
receive  next  week.  This  was  no  very  agreeable  solace  of  my 
grief,  nevertheless  it  was  necessary  that  the  criminal  audacity 
of  the  scoundrel  should  be  repelled.  I  wished,  also,  to  have  an 
indirect  cut  at  the  sloth  of  the  tortoise.  Let  him  enjoy  his 
pleasures,  provided  we  are  at  liberty  to  expose  to  his  disgrace 
the  deadly  evils  which  he  fosters.  For  this  reason,  it  will  per- 
haps be  translated  into  French,  though  as  yet  I  have  not  de- 
cided. 

[Laf.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  «.] 


156]  THEODORE    BEZA,  237 


DCXV.— To  Theodore  Beza.' 

Blames  the  excesses  cotnmitted  by  the  Reformed — Favourable  dispositions  of  Catherine 
de  Medicis — Escape  of  the  Duke  of  Nemours. 

Geneva,  \9ih  A'ovemler,  1561. 

Yesterday  having  gone  out  to  supper  after  my  ride  I  found 
the  stove  much  heuted.  Your  former  letter  was  put  into  my 
hands  at  my  first  entrance,  and  as  I  was  wholly  absorhed  in  the 
perusal  of  it,  I  did  not  remark  that  the  vapour  had  affected  my 
brain.  For  though  the  food  kept  down  tlie  sneezing,  yet  after 
my  return  home  I  felt  my  complaint  aggravated.  A  short  time 
after  I  received  your  second  letter,  l^ou  will  see  what  I  have 
written  to  Salignac.  When  you  have  read  over  the  contents  of 
the  letter,  you  may  suppress  it  or  have  it  delivered  to  him  just 
as  you  shall  judge  most  proper.  I  have  not  thought  fit  to  treat 
too  gently  a  man  whose  sluggishness  by  the  long  lapse  of  time 
has  degenerated  into  a  lethargy.  Would  that  now  at  least  he 
may  wake  up,  and  by  his  activity  study  to  efface  the  disgrace 
of  his  former  indolence.  I  have  touched  upon  the  affair  of  the 
Bishop  of   Troyes  in  this  matter  as  you  desired.*     Y'^ou  will 

'  The  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  though  without  any  results,  everywhere  increased  the 
audacity  of  the  Reformed,  and  people  saw  the  number  of  their  churches  multiplied. 
In  a  great  many  localities  the  mass  was  abolished,  and  the  temples  till  then  conse- 
crated to  the  Catholic  worship  were  invaded  by  the  new  worship.  These  acts  of  vio- 
lence which  the  ministers  could  not  prevent,  and  which  were  blamed  by  Calviu,  Viret, 
and  Theodore  Beza,  gave  rise  to  severe  ordinances  on  the  part  of  the  king.  On  the 
3d  of  November  the  Reformed  were  enjoined  to  restore  the  ediiiees  of  which  they  had 
taken  forcible  possession,  and  thanks  to  the  energetic  exhortations  of  their  pastors, 
this  ordinance  was  almost  everywhere  scrupulously  obeyed.  The  part  which  Calvin 
played  on  this  occasion  was  conformable  to  the  spirit  of  prudence  and  moderation  of 
which  he  had  given  so  many  proofs  in  the  direction  of  the  French  churches.  He 
might  well  render  to  himself  this  testimony  in  a  letter  to  Farel :  "  In  writing  to  Beza 
I  have  discharged  my  duty.  If  the  king's  council  held  the  seizure  of  the  churches  to 
be  an  odious  act,  it  was  also  one  which  I  never  could  approve  of  till  something  should 
be  definitively  decided,  which  I  trust  will  be  done  in  a  short  time."  (2Sth  Decem- 
ber, 1561.) 

"John  Caraccioli,  Bishop  of  Troyes,  was  in  the  number  of  the  Prelates,  who  re- 
nouncing their  benefices  made  public  profession  of  the  gospel.  The  Reformed  Church 
of  Troyes  owed  to  him  its  origin  and  its  first  progress. 


238  THEODORE    BEZA.  [1561. 

pardon  my  brevity,  however,  wlilcli  was  forced  upon  me  on  the 
present  occasion,  though  indeed  I  am  moreover  naturally  dis- 
posed to  it.     Add  to  that,  my  desire  on  this  subject  to  preserve 
a  tone  of  the  greatest  moderation,  lest  I  should  seem  to  be  im- 
posing conditions  on  the  vanquished.     What  you  write  to  me  re- 
specting the  preposterous  zeal  of  our  brethren  is  exceedingly 
true,  and  yet  no  method  of  moderating  it  occurs  to  me.     Every- 
where I  proclaim  to  them,  because  they  do  not  listen  to  salutary 
advice,  that  if  I  were  a  judge  I  should  punish  not  less  severely 
these  furious  attacks  than  the  king  does  by  his  edicts.     Nothing 
can   be   more   equitable   than    the   letter   you   have   obtained. 
Others,  by  their  intemperate  conduct,  will  quite  ruin  the  effects 
of  so  great  a  benefit.     We  must  persist,  however,  since  God  has 
so  willed  that  we  should  be  debtors  to  fools.     Since  the  time  I 
have  been  informed  by  your  letter  that  the  assembling  of  a  new 
conference  has  been  decided  upon,  you  have  learned  that  we 
have  changed  our  purpose  respecting  your  return.     There  is  an 
absolute  necessity  for  your  remaining,  unless  we  wished  to  be- 
tray and  ruin  the  cause,  which  has  now  reached  its  most  critical 
point.     I  am  especially  delighted  to  hear  that  the  queen  wishes 
to  go  through  with  the  measure,  because  I  think  I  am  entitled 
to  conclude  from  that,  that  she  is  not  acting  craftily.     If  never- 
theless we  should  receive  some  apology  for  your  delay,  it  will 
come  very  seasonably  to  allay  fears  and  doubts.     For  you  cannot 
imagine  with  how  much  anxiety  the  council  is  perplexed,  since 
they  conceive  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  you  shall  ever  be 
restored  to  them.     You  will  ascribe  their  silence  for  the  time 
past  to  me,  because  I  had  taken  that  task  on  myself.     The 
trafficker  who  wanted  to  impose  his  German  wares  on  us,  has 
had  the  reward  of  his  perfidy.^     But  what  surprises  me  is  that 
he  had  so  shaken  off  all  modesty  as  not  at  least  to  dissemble  a 
little.     If  Hotman  is  to  be  believed,  Boquin  entirely  disagrees 
with  Baudouin.     I  congratulate  our  friend  Normandie  on  his 
having  been  so  graciously  received  at  court.     God  grant  it  be 
not  a  mere  courtier-like  reception.     But  I  hope  the  best,  be- 
cause I  fancy  that  those  who  have  spontaneously  promised  to 
interpose  their  good  offices  are  speaking  seriously. 

'Alluding  to  Vergerio,  p.  214. 


1561.]  SALIGNAC.  239 

Farewell,  most  excellent  and  well  beloved  brother.  May  the 
Lord  always  stand  by  you,  govern  you,  and  preserve  you  in 
safety.  All  our  brethren  fondly  salute  you.  Bourgoin  has 
forced  us  by  his  imprudence  to  dismiss  him.  I  suppose  it  is 
known  in  your  parts  that  the  Duke  of  Nemours'  has  fled  to  his 
own  nest.  The  Prefect  of  Sex  was  on  the  point  of  laying  hands 
on  him  as  he  passed  incognito.  Escaping  from  his  clutches,  he 
arrived  by  night  at  Chancy.  There  he  with  much  trepidation 
made  enquiries  whether  his  attendants  were  in  the  Genevese  or 
the  Bernese  territory.  Having  procured  a  guide,  they  set  out 
for  the  village  of  L'Ecluse,  where  of  twelve  horses  they  left  three 
half  dead  with  fatigue.  Best  respects  to  Gallup  and  whatever 
others  you  may  think  proper.  Consult  your  health,  I  entreat 
you,  and  do  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  overwhelmed  by  harassing 
labours,  for  it  is  not  without  sorrow  that  I  learn  that  you  are 
worn  to  a  shadow.     Again,  farewell. — Yours, 

Charles  Passelius. 
[Laf.  On'g. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.\ 


DCXVI.— To  Salignac.2 

Congratulations  and  encouragements, 

Geneva,  19/^  Kovemler,  ]561. 

If  I  write  to  you  by  the  hand  of  another,  most  accomplished 
sir  and  venerable  brother  in  Christ,  my  letter  will  not  be  the  less 

'  Jacques  de  Savoy,  Duke  of  Nemours,  who  had  been  actively  mixed  up  with  all  the 
intrigues  of  Emmanuel  Philibert,  and  the  Catholic  party  against  Geneva. 

'Among  the  doctors  commissioned  to  maintain  tho  cause  of  the  Romish  Church  in 
the  private  conferences  which  followed  tho  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  may  be  noticed  a 
reforming  Prelate,  Monluc,  Bishop  of  Valence,  and  a  theologian  secretly  converted  to 
the  Reformed  creed.  It  was  the  Doctor  Salignac.  Informed  of  his  sentiments  by 
Beza,  Calvin  hastened  to  address  to  him  a  letter  of  fraternal  encouragement,  Salignac 
was  touched  bj'  it,  as  we  have  a  proof  in  his  answer  to  Calvin  :  "  I  am  a  soldier  of 
Christ,  of  whom  I  shall  never  feel  ashamed,  and  for  whose  decrees  I  would  not  hesitate 
to  lay  down  my  life;  and  that  I  shall  always  reckon  my  highest  glory  and  prefer  it 
to  every  triumph,"  Notwithstanding  the  energy  of  this  language,  Salignac  does  not 
appear  to  have  publicly  detached  himself  from  the  church  whose  errors  he  recognised, 
and   is  to  be  classed  among  that  numerous  category  of  pious   but  timid  men,  who 


240  SALIGNAC.  [1561. 

valued  by  you,  I  imagine  on  that  account,  when  you  shall  see 
that  it  was  dictated  by  the  most  intimate  sentiments  of  my  heart. 
And  certainly  so  it  is:  nor  should  I  ever  have  ventured  to  deal 
so  familiarly  with  you,  unless  the  love  I  entertain  for  you,  and 
the  care  for  your  salvation  arising  from  that  feeling  which 
renders  me  not  only  solicitous  but  anxious  also,  as  often  as  I 
meditate  on  your  state  had  given  me  confidence.  I  remember 
that  you  are  one  of  those  whom  thirty  years  ago  God  deemed 
worthy  of  the  light  of  his  gospel.  No  vulgar  honour  this,  to  be 
reckoned  among  the  first  fruits  of  those  who  have  received  a 
pure  doctrine  and  a  remarkable  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. But  how  unworthily  that  incomparable  treasure  has  been 
buried  which  God  had  confided  to  you,  I  prefer  that  you  should 
yourself  judge,  rather  than  wait  till  you  must  give  an  account 
before  your  heavenly  Judge  of  your  indolence.  But  why  do  I 
say  indolence?  For  so  many  illustrious  gifts  have  not  only  lain 
hid  without  producing  any  fruit,  but  smothered  by  corruptions, 
have  been  idled  away,  to  the  disgrace  and  dishonour  of  the  pure 
faith. 

Now  though  the  integrity  and  purity  of  your  private  life  has 
been  praiseworthy,  you  are  nevertheless  aware,  and  pious  and 
courageous  men  have  seen,  not  without  the  deepest  sorrow,  that 
the  ungodly  and  the  wicked  have  triumphed  over  you,  as  often 
as,  restrained  by  fear,  you  have  held  your  peace.  Too  long  a 
time  has  elapsed,  in  which  that  bondage,  not  less  miserable  than 
shameful,  has  stifled  the  vigour  of  your  mind.  Grant  that  some 
indulgence  is  due  to  a  common  evil,  because,  everywhere  sur- 
rounded by  terrors,  there  were  few  who  dared  to  profess  them- 
selves undisguisedly  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Now,  however,  that 
a  better  condition  has  suddenly  burst  upon  the  sons  of  God,  so 
that  their  freedom  is  exempt  from  perils,  I  am  forced  to  give 
utterance  to  my  thoughts.  How  long,  I  pray  you,  will  you  be 
pleased  voluntarily  to  defraud  Christ  of  his  rights  by  your  ter- 
giversation? Hitherto  God  has  indulgently  spared  you;  while 
by  your  hesitation  you  choked  the  light  of  a  right  understanding 
within  you,  he  has  not  permitted  it  to  be  altogether  extinguished. 

thought  it  possible  to  conciliate  the  adoption  of  purer  opinions  with  the  outward  pro- 
fession of  the  Romish  worship. 


1561.]  SALIGNAC.  241 

But  I  beseech  you  by  this  indulgence  by  which  he  has  borne 
with  you  until  this  day,  in  -which  he  has  assembled  so  many 
thousands  under  his  banner,  that  these  may  stir  you  up  to  a  like 
alacrity  of  zeal,  and  that  you  may  diligently  weigh  in  your  own 
mind,  how  precious  a  sacrifice  to  God  is  the  pure  confession  of 
God,  and  that  in  fine  the  residue  of  your  life,  consecrated  with 
single-mindedness  to  Christ,  may  compensate  for  the  dilatoriness 
of  times  past.  Nothing  indeed  could  give  me  greater  pleasure 
than  to  hear  that  having  thrown  aside  all  faint-hear tedn ess  and 
vanquished  all  timidity,  you  had  publicly  and  professedly  given 
in  your  name  as  a  follower  of  Christ.  I  do  not  ask,  however, 
that  you  should  give  me  this  assurance  privately,  but  that  you 
should  comfort  all  the  churches  which  God  has  so  marvellously 
raised  up  in  France,  which  certainly  will  congratulate  both 
themselves  and  you,  if,  abandoning  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  you 
betake  yourself  to  the  fold  of  Christ.  Nor  is  the  number  small 
of  those  who  are  still  vacillating,  who  will  forthwith  prepare  to 
imitate  your  example.  And  if  you  prudently  ponder  how  many 
will  be  swayed  by  you,  how  many  have  their  eyes  fixed  upon 
you,  you  will  easily  recognize  that,  jf  the  lukewarmness  of 
others  is  excusable,  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  pardon  your  slug- 
gishness. Perhaps  my  letter  may  find  you  already  sufficiently 
animated,  so  that  my  exhortation  will  be  superfluous.  I  was  un- 
willing hoAvever  to  fail  in  my  duty. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  and  highly  respected  sir.  May  the 
Lord  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  furnish  you  with  fortitude,  and 
preserve  you  in  safety. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Calvin's  Lat.  corresj).,  Opera,  ix.  p.  163.] 
31 


242  THEODORE    BEZA.  [1561. 


DCXVII.— To  Theodore  Beza.' 

Journey  of  Theodore  Beza's  wife  to  France — Difficult  situation  of  the  Academy  of 
Geneva — Sending  off  of  new  ministers. — The  Duke  of  Longueville,  and  the  Duke 
of  Nemours — Divers  salutations. 

Geneva,  Zlst  JVovemher,  1561. 
As  I  am  uncertain  vfhetlier  my  letters  may  find  you  at  court 
before  your  departure  for  your  father's,  I  shall  write  to  you 
more  briefly.  Your  wife  commenced  her  journey  on  Sunday. 
It  is  by  no  means  desirable  that  she  should  be  left  at  your 
father's,  or  make  too  long  a  stay  at  Paris.  She  herself,  too, 
wishes  to  leave  your  city  speedily.  She  would  willingly  remain 
at  Paris,  perhaps.  But  it  will  be  better,  believe  me,  that  she 
should  be  sent  back  on  the  first  occasion,  and  the  time  will  be 
very  convenient  in  the  month  of  March.  It  is  your  interest, 
also,  when  you  return,  to  be  free  from  all  impediments,  because 
the  passage  through  Burgundy  will  not  be  so  safe  that  you 
shall  not  be  obliged  to  guard  against  ambush.  Your  last  letter 
but  one,  as  it  gave  us  great  hopes,  was  very  agreeable  to  me. 
From  your  last,  also,  I  derived  no  small  satisfaction,  except 
that  it  renewed  my  sorrow  for  the  complaints  I  had  made,  which 
were  a  cause  of  grief  or  anxiety  to  you.  I  repented  of  it  almost 
immediately  afterwards,  but  the  letter  was  gone.  I  could  not 
recall  it.  Now  I  am  still  more  displeased  with  myself  for  hav- 
ing offended  you.  There  is  no  occasion,  however,  that  you 
should  make  excuses  for  not  having  the  interests  of  our  Aca- 
demy at  heart,  since  you  cannot  be  more  convinced  of  that  fact 
than  we  are  ourselves.  I,  too,  am  sorry  that  we  have  been  de- 
ceived once,  but  I  am  particularly  angry  with  myself  for  having 
knowingly  and  willingly  fallen  into  the  trap.  For  the  present 
moment,  he  seems  to  have  made  up  his  mind  to  stay  with  us,  but 

'  In  addition  to  the  cares  for  the  important  interests  of  which  he  was  the  represen- 
tative, Theodore  Beza  was  occupied  with  domestic  anxieties.  He  was  about  to  visit 
his  aged  father,  whom  ho  had  left  at  VezcUiy  in  Burgundy,  in  order  to  present  to  him 
his  young  wife,  Claudine  Denosse,  who  had  been  the  companion  of  his  voluntary  exile 
at  Geneva.  This  introduction,  delayed  till  then  by  religious  differences,  was  not  to 
take  place  without  some  painful  circumstances,  as  Beza  himself  testifies  in  his  un- 
edited correspondence  with  Calvin  (1561,  1562)  2>asaim. 


1561.]  THEODORE    BEZA.  243 

we  are  resolved  not  to  trust  liim,  for  he  lias  neither  laid  aside 
his  project  about  going  away,  nor  does  he  make  any  promise 
about  his  return.  But  of  the  character  and  acts  of  the  man 
we  shall  talk  more  fully  when  you  come.  It  will  not  be  amiss, 
however,  if  by  the  aid  of  Mercer,  we  could  procure  a  successor 
for  him.  For  even  should  he  whom  we  had  counted  on  put  off 
his  departure,  it  will  be  convenient  for  us  to  have  another  person 
on  account  of  Sanraver's  complaint,  which,  though  the  physi- 
cians pronounced  it  not  to  be  mortal,  will,  nevertheless,  be  lin- 
gering, as  I  think.  It  will  give  us  pleasure  if  the  person  who 
is  to  succeed  to  Baduel  could  be  here  as  soon  as  possible.  I 
have  handed  to  Barnouin  a  copy  of  the  letter,  of  which  he  is  the 
bearer,  that  he  may  deliver  this  copy  to  you.  I  have  also  caused 
to  be  copied  out  the  reply  I  have  made  to  Baudouin,  that  you 
may  con  it  over  at  leisure,  and  that  you  may  not  quite  lose 
your  time,  since  you  will  be  a  little  more  disengaged  while  you 
remain  at  your  father's.  The  Parisians,  who  had  been  sent  to 
fetch  M.  de  Passy,  came  here.  At  their  request,  I  shall  exhort 
the  inhabitants  of  Issoudun  to  let  him  go.  He  himself,  as  I 
bear,  will  comply  with  my  advice.  For  they  have  a  letter  by 
which  Viret  is  sent  for,  and  the  senate  has  granted  him  permis- 
sion to  pass  through  Paris,  on  condition,  however,  that  he  be 
back  by  summer.'  The  inhabitants  of  Tours  stand  up  stoutly 
for  detaining  M.  de  Spina,^  who  they  pretend  was  definitely 
assigned  to  them,  when  I  was  asked  to  allow  him  to  go  to  them. 
Certainly,  the  Parisians  seem  too  greedy.  As  I  am  about  to 
close  my  letter,  I  return  to  yourself.  You  act  wisely,  indeed, 
in  voluntarily  dismissing  all  foreign  deliberations,  in  order  to 
embrace  with  both  arms  the  duties  which  more  properly  belong 
to  our  ministry.  I  would  not  have  you  abstain  altogether,  how- 
ever, from  other  cares.  You  should  still  watch,  not  only  what 
is  publicly  going  on,  but  even  the  more  secret  counsels  should 
not  escape  your  observation.  For  it  is  your  province  not  only 
to  correct  abuses  where  any  thing  has  been  done  ami.s.s,  but 

"  See  page  235,  note. 

"Jean  de  I'Epine,  a  distinguished  divine,  who  had  quitted  the  cloister  to  join  the 
ranks  of  the  Reformed,  whose  doctrines  he  maintained  at  the  Colloquy  of  Puissy. 
Ho  was  also  called  Acanthius, Crottet.     Chroniiiae  Protcstantc,  p.  2.52. 


244  THEODORE    BEZA.  [1561. 

also  to  guard  against  the  occurrence  of  evils.  When  you  assert 
that  you  will  always  belong  to  our  society,  this  is  exactly  the 
opinion  which  the  senate  entertains  of  your  dispositions,  nor 
did  your  brethren  suspect  any  thing  unfriendly  on  your  part, 
but  they  were  afraid  you  might  not  be  at  liberty  to  dispose  of 
yourself.  When  your  letter,  then,  was  communicated  to  them, 
they  were  exceedingly  delighted,  just  as  if  they  had  received 
some  new  piece  of  intelligence.  Indeed,  till  I  see  you  here,  I 
shall  seem,  I  know  not  how,  in  a  certain  fashion  abandoned- 
Farewell,  most  worthy  and  excellent  brother.  Our  colleagues 
and  friends  most  affectionately  salute  you ;  among  others,  the 
Marquis  de  Vico,  who  is  still  suffering  from  the  third  attack  of 
a  quartan  ague.  He  is  now,  however,  out  of  danger,  we  trust. 
The  Duke  of  Longueville,  who  did  not  dare  to  visit  us,  till  he 
had  been  to  Berne  to  renew  the  league,  writes  to  us  that  we 
may  expect  him  here  very  soon.  He  and  his  mother  wish  to 
take  me  to  Neuchatel  in  the  beginning  of  February,  that  1  may 
be  present  at  the  synod.  I  shall  hardly  escape,  because  the 
senate  makes  no  opposition.  The  Duke  of  Nemours  feigns  to 
be  afraid.  The  gates  of  the  city  are  carefully  guarded.  The 
Duke  of  Savoy  lately  ordered  all  his  carriages  and  wagons  to 
be  conveyed  to  Chambery.  Why  all  this  stir  we  know  not. 
Again  and  again,  farewell,  most  worthy  brother.  May  the 
Lord  always  stand  by  you,  govern  and  protect  you,  and  bless 
your  labours.  Our  senate  salutes  you.  I  do  not  write  to  our 
friend  Normandie,  because  I  have  nothing  new  to  communicate 
to  him.  I  wish  he  could  be  sent  back  to  us  earlier  than  what 
I  conclude  from  your  letter.  If,  in  the  mean  time,  he  can  set- 
tle the  business  which  concerns  his  paternal  inheritance,  he  will 
consult  properly  and  advantageously  for.  himself.'  I  had  almost 
forgotten  one  thing.  Canaye,  having  laid  aside  all  thoughts  of 
his  mission,  has  resolved  to  stay  among  us  till  he  again  occupy 
himself  with  polite  literature,  between  which  and  him  there  had 
been  a  long  divorce.     He  will  send  to  Yiret  another  in  his  stead. 

'  See  vol.  ii.,  p.  219,  note  2.  Availing  himself  of  the  tolerating  edicts  which  signa- 
lized the  first  years  of  the  reign  of  Charles  IX.,  Laurence  de  Normandie  took  a  jour- 
ney into  France,  found  a  favourable  welcome  at  court,  and  obtained  restitution  of  a 
part  of  his  property. — Normandius  Calvino,  Sept.,  1561.     (MSS.  of  Gotha.) 


1561.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE.  245 

This  is  the  brevity  of  which  I  had  spoken  to  you  in  the  begin- 
ning of  my  letter. 

Yours,  Charles  Passelius. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Autog. — Library  of  Gotha.     Vol.  405,  ]}.  200.] 


DCXVIII. — To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre.' 

Regret  for  the  prolonged  absence  of  Bcza — Writing  against  Baudouin — Letter  to  tho 
Queen  of  Navarre,  mother  of  Jane  d'Albret. 

Geneva,  2ith  December,  15G1. 

•  Madame  : — It  is  not  without  great  regret  that  we  are  still  to 
be  deprived  for  some  time  of  the  presence  of  our  brother,  M. 
Beza  f  for  the  church  incurs  a  loss  by  it,  and  the  students,  who 
are  here  for  the  purpose  of  following  a  course  of  theology,  have 
their  studies  retarded,  inasmuch  as  I  cannot  satisfy  all  the  de- 
mands that  are  made  on  my  time.  But  since  there  is  no  help 
for  that,  I  will  pray  God  that  the  fruits  which  will  accrue  from 
his  labours  for  the  advancement  of  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ, 
may  be  to  us  as  a  reward  to  gladden  us,  or,  at  least,  in  part  to 
mitigate  our  distress.^  In  the  mean  time,  we  have  wherewith- 
all  to  bless  God  for  having  wrought  so  efficaciously  in  you,  Ma- 
dame, and  caused  you  to  surmount  every  thing  that  might  have 
turned  you  aside  from  the  right  path.  It  were  much  to  be 
wished  that  the  king,  your  husband,  would,  once  for  all,  form 
a  firm  resolution  not  to  swim  any  longer  between  two  cur- 

'  Confirmed  in  the  creed  of  the  Reformed,  by  Theodore  Beza,  the  Queen  of  Navarro 
employed  her  influence  at  court  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  tolerating  administration 
ushered  in  by  the  edict  of  January. 

'  Detained  at  St.  Germain  by  the  instant  entreaties  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  Beza 
wrote  to  Calvin  tho  25th  November  : — "  By  the  grace  of  God,  we  have  begun  to  found 
a  church  here,  and  God  aiding  we  shall  celebrate,  next  Sabbath,  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper.  I  saluted,  in  your  name,  as  you  ordered  me,  the  Queen  of  Navarre, 
the  Prince  of  Conde,  Possidonius,  and  their  wives,  which  they  took  in  very  good  part. 
She  (I  mean  tho  Queen  of  Navarre)  ceased  not  to  ask  me  for  a  minister,  and  more- 
over declares  that  she  will  not  suffer  me  to  quit  her." — Theodore  Beza  to  Calvin, 
(Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  117.) 

3  Theodore  Beza  quitted  Franco  definitivelj' to  return  to  Geneva,  only  in  April,  1563, 
after  the  first  civil  war,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Amboise. 


246  THE    QUEEN    OF   NAVARRE.  [1561. 

rents.  I  know,  Madame,  how  much  you  are  labouring  to  bring 
that  about.  But  I  entreat  you,  if  you  do  not  succeed  so 
soon  as  we  could  wish,  that  the  delay  do  not  exhaust  your  pa- 
tience, nor  cool  your  zeal.  For  the  rest,  Madame,  whatever 
happen,  you  know  how  carefully  we  should  beware  of  withdraw- 
ing ourselves  from  God  to  gratify  mortal  creatures,  which  ought 
to  give  you  courage  zealously  to  persevere,  aiming  at  the  end 
which  is  proposed  to  you,  whatever  winds  blow  from  opposite 
directions.  I  have  also  to  apprize  you,  Madame,  of  one  thing 
which  I  could  gladly  dispense  with,  were  I  at  liberty  to  do  so. 
But  I  fancy  that  having  heard  the  motive  which  obliges  me, 
you  will  easily  excuse  me  for  what  I  have  done.  There  is  a  cer- 
tain boor  whom  the  king,  your  husband,  has  appointed  to  be 
the  tutor  of  his  yiatural  so7i,^  who,  being  an  apostate  and  a  trai- 
tor to  religion,^  has  vomited  out  in  a  printed  book  all  the  abuse 
he  could  invent  against  me.^  Now,  besides  pluming  himself  on 
the  name  of  your  husband,  not  doing  him  too  much  honour  by 
that,  he  makes  also  a  buckler  against  me  of  the  late  queen, 
your  mother,  because  for  some  time  she  was  displeased  that  I 
had  so  sharply  confounded  the  sect  of  the  Libertines.  At  that 
time,  I  answered  her  on  the  subject,  and  I  send  you,  Madame, 
a  copy  of  the  letter  written  by  the  hand  of  our  brother  Des 
Gallars,  fourteen  years  ago,  in  order  that  you  may  judge  of  the 
merits  of  the  cause.^     I  have  no  intention  to  animate  you  against 

'  "  llagister  de  son  hastnrd." 

"  Allusion  to  Francis  Baudouin.  As  a  reward  for  his  efforts  to  bring  about  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Catholics  and  Protestants,  he  had  been  appointed  tutor  of  Charles 
de  Bourbon,  the  natural  son  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  with  a  salary  of  twelve  hun- 
dred livres. 

^The  origin  of  this  controversy,  in  which  the  precepts  of  charity  were  but  little 
observed  by  either  party,  was  the  publication  of  Cassander's  book,  De  oflScio  pii  viri 
in  hoc  religionis  dissidio  (of  the  duty  of  a  pious  man  in  these  religious  dissensions) 
of  which  Baudouin  superintended  the  printing.  It  was  the  manifesto  of  the  trim- 
mers (moyenneurs)  in  religious  matters.  Calvin  replied  to  it  in  one  of  the  most  viru- 
lent of  his  treatises  : — Reply  to  a  certain  doxthle-dealing  go-betioeen,  who,  under  pre- 
text of  pacification,  has  been  intriguing  to  cut  short  the  course  of  the  gospel  in  France. 
1561,  in  8vo.,  translated  into  French  in  the  Reeueil  des  Opuscules,  p.  1885.  The  re- 
ply of  Baudouin,  full  of  abuse  against  the  Reformer,  provoked  a  second  reply  from 
Calvin: — Answer  to  Baudouin'a  scurrilous  railings;  and  the  contest  continued  by 
Theodore  wandered  still  farther  from  the  ways  of  moderation,  from  which  it  had  de- 
viated  from  the  beginning. 

■•It  is  the  letter  to  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  vol.  i.,  p.  453,     This  letter,  as  Eeza  re- 


15G1.J  THE    KING    OF   NAVARRE.  247 

him.  You  will  act  as  God  shall  direct  you.  But  I  cannot  for- 
bear, Miidame,  from  begging  you  to  take  steps  to  prevent  him 
from  bringing  into  the  question  the  name  of  the  said  lady,  your 
mother,  lest  I  should  be  forced,  in  maintaining  the  cause  of  God, 
to  say  more  than  I  should  wish.  The  malice  and  artifice  of 
these  beggarly  wretches  is  to  allege,  on  false  pretexts,  the  names 
of  princes,  in  order  to  shut  the  mouths  of  God's  servants  under 
such  a  screen — the  greater  reason  why  princes  should  make  a 
point  of  stopping  their  mouths. 

Whereupon,  Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  my- 
self to  your  indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  the  heavenly 
Father  to  keep  you  under  his  protection  always,  to  govern  you 
by  his  Spirit,  and  increase  your  majesty  in  all  good. 
Your  very  humble  servant, 

Charles  D'Espeville. 

[Fr.  Minute  Autog. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXIX. — To  THE  King  of  Navarre.' 

Severe  judgment  respecting  the  conduct  of  this  prince,  a  renegade  from  the  Reformed 

religion. 

Geneva,  2itli  December,  1561. 

Sire: — The  fear  we  have  of  being  importunate  prevents  us 
from  writing  to  you  as  often  as  we  should  do,  and  as  possibly 

lates,  was  approved  of  by  Jane  d'Albret :— "  When  I  had  shown  her  the  copy  of  the 
letter  which  I  now  send  back  to  you,  there  was  no  need,  she  said,  for  any  apology, 
for  I  would  by  no  means  excuse  my  mother's  fault,  and  I  am  perfectly  well  acquainted 
with  the  whole  affair.  She  read  the  letter  over,  itevertheless,  and  axiiiroved  of  it." 
Beza  to  Calvin,  6th  January,  1562.     (Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  117.) 

'  Without  the  date  of  the  month.  Written  in  December,  1561,  delivered  to  the  king 
in  January,  1562,  which  is  proved  by  the  following  passage  of  a  letter  of  Calvin  to 
Beza  :  "If  you  think  fit,  you  will  sec  that  this  letter  be  delivered  to  the  King  of 
Navarre.     If  it  give  offence,  you  will  take  the  blame  on  yourself." 

Circumstances  imposed  on  the  Reformer  imperious  duties  with  respect  to  the  King 
of  Navarre.  Betrayed  by  his  servants,  and  deceived  by  the  Guises,  this  prince  float- 
ing between  the  two  parties  had  allowed  himself  to  be  seduced  by  the  hope  of  espousing 
the  Queen  of  Scotland,  and  obtaining  Sardinia  in  exchange  for  Spanish  Navarre. 
One  of  his  confidential  followers  the  Sire  d'Escars  had  gone  to  convey  on  his  part 
terms  of  submission  to  the  court  of  Rome—"  Apprised  of  that,  Theodore  Beza,  who 


248  THE    KING    OF   NAVARKE.  [1561. 

might  be  advantageous  to  you.  But  though  we  necessarily  felt 
some  reluctance  in  addressing  you,  yet  the  letters  of  the  queen 
your  consort  have  not  only  emboldened  us,  but  also  deprived  us 
of  every  excuse  for  delaying  any  longer  to  do  so.  For  as  God 
has  sensibly  touched  her  heart,  not  content  with  holding  on  and 
marching  in  the  right  path  to  which  she  has  been  called,  she 
has  exhorted  us,  and  that  too  most  affectionately,  to  do  all  that 
lay  in  our  power  to  increase  in  you  the  courage  and  magnanimity 
which  you  have  so  much  need  to  display.  As  her  desire  is 
laudable,  so  it  ought  to  animate  the  zeal  of  us  all;  and  as  you 
are  her  chief,  Sire,  you  ought  to  set  her  an  example,  that  she 
may  thereby  be  still  more  ardent  for  the  glory  of  God,  when  in 
so  holy  a  matter  she  shall  have  it  in  her  power  to  act  conform- 
ably to  your  views.  And  in  fact  you  have  great  reason  to  re- 
joice and  bless  God  for  having  so  disposed  her  mind,  and  that 
whereas  formerly  she  did  not  co-operate  with  you,  she  now  strives 
directly  to  second  you  as  her  duty  demands.  Still,  Sire,  inas- 
much as  she  is  firmly  resolved  to  acquit  herself  of  all  that  she 
is  in  arrears  to  God  and  compensate  for  the  defects  of  the 
past,  so  it  behoves  you  to  make  haste,  in  order  that  you  may 
always  march  before  her  in  your  order  and  degree.  For  it  is 
the  first  of  all  your  titles  of  pre-eminence  to  bear  yourself  with 
such  courage,  that  she  who  desires  to  please  you  may  have  double 
cause  of  rejoicing,  when  in  submitting  to  you,  she  at  the  same 
time  glorifies  God.  And  even  should  none  of  these  motives 
exist.  Sire,  still  you  would  not  be  exempted  from  the  duty  you 
owe  to  God.  But  such  advantages  certainly  deserve  to  be 
turned  to  account  in  urging  you  to  vigorous  action,  as  they  leave 
you  without  excuse,  if  you  proceed  with  coldness  and  indifference. 
Now  you  will  be  pleased  to  pardon  us.  Sire,  if  we  cannot  dis- 
semble that  hitherto  you  have  been  far  from  acquitting  yourself 

had  ready  access  to  him,  did  not  fail  to  make  to  him  excellent  and  warm  remon- 
strances on  the  subject,  to  which  the  king  replied,  that  he  did  not  advance  farther 
than  it  was  easy  for  him  to  extricate  himself.  .  ."  Hist.  Eccl.  vol.  i.  p.  688.  In  a 
letter  written  with  great  moderation  and  energy,  he  endeavoured  to  enlighten  the 
king.  All  was  i.o  no  purpose  :  "  He  broke,"  says  Varillas,  "  with  all  his  friends.  He 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Catholic  party,  and  all  that  the  tears  of  his  wife  could 
obtain  from  him,  was  a  permission  to  retire  to  her  principality  of  Beam,  and  live  in 
her  Calvinistic  fashion. 


1561.]  THE   KING    OF   NAVAIIRE.  249 

of  what  God  is  so  justly  entitled  to  require  of  you.  Not  that 
we  do  not  take  into  account,  Sire,  the  obstacles  by  which  you 
are  beset  on  all  hands,  but  when  you  reflect  that  we  are  God's 
attorneys,  as  it  were,  you  will,  in  your  piety,  permit  us  not 
to  flatter  you  while  we  are  maintaining  his  rights.  Especially 
we  entreat  you  to  note  what  is  written  in  psalm  cxix.,  in  which 
the  prophet  prays  God  not  to  take  the  word  of  truth  utterly  out 
of  his  mouth.  There  in  the  first  place  he  is  not  ashamed  to 
confess  that  he  has  neither  shown  himself  so  sincere,  nor  so  en- 
tirely given  up  as  he  should  have  been,  to  maintaining  the  glory 
of  God,  and  yet  he  protests  in  the  same  psalm  that  he  has  been 
as  it  were  the  preacher  of  the  law  before  kings  and  princes. 
But  well  knowing  that  in  a  cause  so  worthy  and  precious,  he 
who  has  done  his  best  is  still  a  debtor,  he  is  displeased  with  his 
own  weakness,  in  order  that  he  may  have  satisfaction  Avhen  he 
shall  have  profited  more.  Inasmuch  as  he  had  not  been  suflB- 
ciently  zealous  in  maintaining  God's  quarrel  for  a  time,  he  seeks 
the  remedy  where  we  may  find  it,  that  is,  in  being  fortified  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But  at  any  rate,  he  falls  not 
asleep  in  his  coldness,  but  cuts  short  every  cause  of  delay,  as  if 
he  could  never  arrive  soon  enough  at  the  end  to  which  he  is 
aspiring.  That  is  the  reason  why  he  asks  of  God  not  to  suffer 
him  to  remain  in  this  state  of  weakness  in  which  he  feels  him- 
self to  be. 

Now  as  by  the  word  mouth  he  shows  that  faith  ought  not  to 
be  buried,  but  that  it  ought  to  display  itself  before  men,  it 
cannot  be  do\ibted  but  that  he  means  here  to  speak  of  the  ex- 
terior service  of  God.  Now,  Sire,  it  is  for  you  to  consider 
whether  you  have  been,  we  do  not  say  as  free  as  was  requisite 
in  bearing  testimony  to  our  faith,  but  whether  you  have  even 
been  half  way  in  such  a  duty.  It  is  then  time  to  run  lest  the 
night  surprise  you.  In  general  how  far  have  you  been.  Sire, 
from  maintaining  the  quarrel  of  Jesus  Christ  according  to  your 
rank  and  dignity,  which  required  more  of  you  than  of  private 
persons?  If  any  man  in  a  poor  and  humble  condition  appears 
to  consent  to  having  the  name  of  God  blasphemed,  religion  dis- 
graced, and  the  poor  church  trodden  under  foot,  he  cannot  avoid 
condemning  himself  of  not  having  the  word  of  truth  in  his 


250  THE    KING   OF   NAVAKRE.  [1561. 

mouth.  What  then  shall  we  say  of  you,  Sire,  raised  to  such 
dignity,  honour,  and  authority,  if  not  to  flatter  you,  you  were 
called  to  give  an  account  to  Him  from  whom  you  hold  all  ? 

It  would  also  he  cowardice  in  us  to  pass  over  in  silence  the 
particular  act  which  in  the  eyes  of  great  and  small  has  produced 
so  much  scandal.  We  speak  of  that  unfortunate  speech  made 
at  Rome  on  your  part.  Sire,  which  has  caused  to  hlush,  weep,  and 
groan,  and  almost  burst  with  anger,  all  persons  justly  zealous 
either  for  the  glory  of  God  or  the  good  reputation  of  your 
majesty.  It  is  certain.  Sire,  that  you  cannot  labour  too  hard, 
to  follow  manfully  a  directly  opposite  course,  till  once  a  fault 
of  such  a  character  be  repaired  both  before  God  and  men.  We 
speak  not  of  the  man  who  was  employed  to  pronounce  the  dis- 
course, because  no  honest  man  could  have  been  found  who  would 
have  undertaken  such  an  office.  But  it  seems  that  he  and  your 
enemies  wished  to  make  a  triumph  of  the  reprobation  you  have 
incurred  by  printing  an  account  of  that  disgraceful  transaction, 
which  was  already  but  too  well  known.  We  see  perfectly  well, 
Sire,  how  you  were  induced  to  act  so;  but  whether  the  per- 
plexities by  which  you  were  then  surrounded,  caused  you  to  yield 
in  spite  of  your  wishes,  or  you  were  swayed  by  considerations 
of  personal  safety  to  defeat  the  intrigues  of  your  enemies,  and 
break  the  nets  which  were  spread  for  you,  or  whether  you  were 
lured  by  the  hope  of  recovering  for  the  future  what  belongs  to 
you, — none  of  all  these  considerations  will  be  admitted  in  the 
presence  of  God  to  absolve  you.  And  in  fact,  what  should  we 
say  if  you  were  told  that  the  whole  world  was  to  be  bestowed  on 
you,  provided  you  fell  down  and  worshipped  him  who  is  the 
principle  of  evil?  You  will  pardon  the  necessity.  Sire,  which 
constrains  us  to  speak  thus,  inasmuch  as  we  are  concerned  for 
your  salvation,  and  also  for  a  thing  still  more  worthy  and  pre- 
cious, namely,  the  glory  of  God  and  the  advancement  of  the 
reign  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  which  consists  the  salvation  of  you  and 
of  the  whole  world.  Not,  Sire,  when  we  entreat  you  henceforth 
to  bear  yourself  more  manfully  in  making  an  upright  and  pure 
profession  of  true  Christianity,  that  we  do  not  take  into  account 
the  opposition  and  alarms  which  you  will  have  forthwith  to 
struggle  with.     At  the  very  least  you  will  have  to  count  on  an 


15G1.]  THE  KING  OF  NAVARRE.  251 

interdict.  But  nothing  can  be  more  reasonable  than  that  to 
serve  Ilim  to  whom  all  is  due,  nothing  should  be  spared.  And 
though  you  should  never  be  able  to  decide  upon  marching  where 
God  calls  you.  till  you  have  learned  to  rely  for  everything  on 
his  promises,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  to  relieve  you  he  holds 
out  to  you  a  helping  hand  in  many  ways.  For  if  on  the  one 
hand  there  are  threats  and  terrors,  there  are  also  good  and 
suitable  remedies,  which  will  promptly  present  themselves  when 
you  shall  be  pleased  to  accent  them.  And  even  if  evei'y  door 
should  be  shut  against  ^^Bf  Sire,  still  it  is  your  duty  in  this 
circumstance  to  apply  to  yourself  what  David  says:  God  enables 
his  children  to  leap  o^ff  the  highest  walls.  But  when  he  so  far 
supports  you  as  to  give  you  an  opening,  fail  not,  we  pray  you, 
Sire,  to  enter.  Seize  the  favourable  opportunity  of  which  even 
the  ungodly  are  wont  to  say  that  we  should  not  allow  it  to 
escape.  But  though  the  affairs  of  this  world  are  often  con- 
ducted by  long  and  tortuous  ways,  God  will  have  us  advance 
in  a  more  straight-forward  manner  in  maintaining  his  quarrel,  so 
that  the  temporising  method  which  you  have  hitherto  followed, 
will  never  be  found  good  at  his  tribunal. 

We  do  not  mean  by  this  to  urge  you  to  precipitate  action. 
Nay,  there  is  an  inconsiderate  zeal  in  others  Avhich  we  do  not 
approve  of,  and  which  we  would  fain  moderate  if  it  were  in  our 
power.  But  since  we  cannot,  we  entreat  your  majesty  to  be 
content  to  support  it.  What  is  more,  we  are  of  opinion  that 
God,  to  correct  the  tardiness  of  the  great,  has  caused  the  little 
ones  of  this  world  to  put  themselves  so  prominently  forward 
that  it  would  be  difficult  now  to  make  them  give  ground.  Now 
if  it  has  pleased  him  so  to  ^vorh  in  them,  the  more  the  ungodly 
shall  strive  to  resist,  the  more  should  you  be  whetted  on,  Sire, 
to  put  to  use  the  weak  instruments  by  which  at  last  will  be  made 
apparent  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  true  that  we  had 
endeavoured  to  persuade  them  to  be  satisfied  with  preaching  in 
secret  in  their  own  houses.  Hearing  that  a  contrary  course  has 
been  pursued,  we  have  been  much  surprised,  but  we  cannot  fail 
to  conclude  that  God  has  wished  to  give  free  scope  to  his  word 
without  the  aid  of  man,  in  order  that  the  council  may  not  think 
it  so  extraordinary  to  grant  permission  and  toleration  to  what 


252  M.    DE   COLONGES.  [1562. 

is  already  established.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Sire,  according  as 
you  shall  be  faithful  to  the  end,  and  as  perfectly  disposed  as 
were  to  be  desired  to  procure  the  prosperity  and  repose  of  the 
king  and  the  good  of  the  country  of  France,  we  entreat  you  also 
with  no  less  zeal  and  ardent  aifection  to  strive  that  God  be 
glorified,  by  resisting  openly  all  superstition  and  idolatry,  show- 
ing yourself  at  the  same  time  the  protector  of  the  poor  church, 
until  she  shall  no  longer  be  so  cruelly  oppressed.  For  though 
the  Devil  and  the  world  vent  all  Jheir  rage,  the  liberty  which 
the  faithful  shall  have  of  serving^od,  will  procure  from  him 
this  blessing,  that  the  king  will  peacei»bly  rule  all  his  subjects, 
and  you  will  be  preserved  in  your  rSfc,  both  to  govern  his 
territory  as  chief  of  his  council  and  also  to  reign  in  your  own. 

Sire,  having  humbly  commended  ourselves  to  the  indulgent 
favour  of  your  majesty,  we  will  supplicate  our  merciful  Father 
to  have  you  in  his  keeping,  to  strengthen  you  with  invincible 
courage,  to  bestow  on  you  prudence  and  address  in  the  manage- 
ment of  all  affairs,  and  increase  you  more  and  more  in  his 
grace.* 

Your  humble  servants, 

John  Calvin,  Theodore  Beza. 

[Fr.  Copy,  in  the  hand  of  Th.  Beza. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXX.— To  M.  DE  Colonges.2 

Answer  to  three  questions. 

Geneva,  Idth  January,  1562 

Monsieur  and  well-beloved  Brother: — I  should  most 
probably  have  been  more  expeditious  in  giving  you  an  answer 
respecting  the  three  points  about  which  you  had  asked  my  opi- 

•  The  manuscript  bears  1562,  the  date  of  the  presentation  of  this  letter  to  the  King 
of  Navarre — early  in  January. 

^  For  title:  Answer  to  three  questions.  Francis  de  Morel,  Sieur  de  Colonges, 
minister  of  Geneva  and  of  Paris.  See  p.  38.  He  presided  in  1559  in  the  first  synod 
of  the  Reformed  churches  of  France,  and  was  present  at  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy.  He 
was  at  this  time  minister  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara. 


1562.]  M.  DE    COLONGES,  253 

nion,  had  I  not  felt  some  scruples  in  touching  on  so  delicate  a 
subject  as  that  of  ministers  lending  money  upon  interest.  For 
to  condemn  absolutely  such  a  manner  of  lending  -would  be  an 
instance  of  too  great  rigour,  and  might  provoke  many  replies. 
In  fact,  I  dare  not  assert  that  it  is  not  lawful.  But  on  the 
other  hand,  when  I  consider  to  how  many  calumnies  and  scan- 
dals such  a  practice  may  lead,  and  also  that  many  persons  are 
apt  to  pass  the  bounds  of  moderation  in  following  it,  and  think 
themselves  warranted  to  make  such  profits  as  may  be  deemed 
illicit,  I  willingly  abstain  from  giving  any  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion. The  safest  and  most  expedient  conduct  would  be  not  to 
engage  in  such  practices  or  contracts,  and  it  is  not  without  rea- 
son that  Jeremiah  protests  that  the  contestations  in  which  he 
was  involved  arose  neither  from  borrowing  nor  lending.  Thus, 
when  a  minister  shall  dispense  with  such  gains,  he  will  act  most 
wisely.  But  as  this  practice  is  more  supportable  than  pursuing 
mercantile  speculations,  or  conducting  any  traffic  by  which  he 
might  be  diverted  from  his  functions,  I  see  no  reason  why  the 
thing  should  be  condemned  in  general.  Nevertheless,  I  could 
wish  that  so  much  moderation  were  observed  that  people  should 
not  desire  to  derive  a  certain  profit  from  it,  but  should  content 
themselves  with  lending  their  money  to  some  merchant,  a  man 
of  integrity,  and  trust  to  his  good  faith  and  loyalty  for  making 
an  equitable  gain  out  of  it,  when  God  should  cause  his  industry 
to  thrive. 

With  regard  to  taking  an  oath  to  the  consistory,  it  is  proper 
to  proceed  in  that  matter  with  prudence,  in  order  to  guard 
against  detraction  and  murmurs.  It  is  lawful  to  summon  per- 
sons and  adjure  them,  setting  before  their  eyes  the  presence  of 
God  and  his  judgment,  so  much  the  rather  that  he  presides  over 
such  a  society.  But  we  must  carefully  beware  of  every  forma- 
lity which  might  imply  a  kind  of  jurisdiction,  or  any  thing  that 
bore  the  semblance  of  it. 

Respecting  the  last  point,  it  appears  to  me  that  no  objection 
can  be  made  to  admitting  into  the  consistory  officers  of  justice 
and  chiefs  of  police,  provided  they  sit  in  it  in  the  capacity  of 
magistrates.  But  always  let  there  be  a  due  distinction  ob- 
served between  the  two  functions  and  conditions.     To  exclude 


254  M.  DE   PASSY.  [1562. 

persons  that  belong  to  the  civil  government  from  all  superin- 
tendence in  the  spiritual  administration,  seems  to  me  contrary 
to  reason.  What  is  essential  is  that  when  fitting  persons  shall 
have  been  elected  to  such  an  office,  there  should  be  no  blending 
of  their  functions,  nor  the  power  of  the  sword  confounded  with 
what  ought  to  be  carefully  kept  distinct  from  it. 

You  have  here  an  abstract  of  what  God  has  enabled  me  to 
communicate  to  you  respecting  the  three  questions,  and  my 
opinion  is  corroborated  by  that  of  all  our  brethren.  For  I 
thought  right  to  adhere  to  their  sentiments,  in  order  that  the 
decision  should  not  proceed  from  me  alone.  Whereupon,  .  .  . 
etc. 

[IV.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  145.] 


DCXXI.— To  M.  DE  Passy.' 

He  urges  him  to  accept  the  functions  of  an  evangelical  minister. 

Geneva,  2ith.  January,  1562. 

Monsieur  and  honoured  Brother  : — When  I  wrote  to  you 
not  long  ago  on  the  part  of  the  society,  and  at  the  request  of 
the  Church  of  Paris,  I  begged  you  to  consider,  according  to 
your  prudence,  what  should  be  most  expedient,  as  you  can  best 
judge  by  your  experience  of  the  past  time,  and  also  from  your 
greater  proximity  to  the  place.^     Before  receiving  an  answer,  I 

■  Jacques  Paul  Spifame,  Seigneur  de  Passy,  Bishop  of  Nevera,  voluntarily  resigned 
his  bishopric  to  withdraw,  in  1559,  to  Geneva.  He  was  there  made  a  burgess  and  a 
minister  of  the  city;  became,  in  1561,  pastor  of  the  Church  of  Issoudun,  and  was 
employed  by  the  Prince  of  Cond6  on  several  important  missions  in  Germany.  Called 
to  the  court  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  he  incurred  the  blame  of  that  princess  by  incon- 
siderate acts  which  caused  the  sincerity  of  his  convictions  to  be  suspected  at  Geneva. 
His  past  life  was  subjected  to  a  severe  scrutiny.  This  brought  to  light  disorders 
which  Spifame  had  endeavoured  to  conceal  by  the  fabrication  of  a  false  contract  of 
marriage.  Imprisoned  as  an  adulterer,  he  confessed  his  guilt,  and  in  vain  solicited 
the  indulgence  of  his  judges,  who,  from  an  excess  of  rigour,  condemned  him  to  death. 
He  died  on  the  scaffold,  the  23d  March,  1566,  "  with  a  deep  repentance  for  his  faults, 
which  he  testified  by  a  good  exhortation  which  he  delivered  to  the  people."  .  .  . 
Spon.  Hist.de  Geneva,  vol.  ii.,  p.  112;  note  2,  de  Gautier;  et  Senebier,  Hist.  Lilt., 
vol.  i.,  p.  384. 

'  Spifame  was  then  minister  at  Issoudun. 


1562.]  M.  DE   PASSY.  255 

am  solicited  by  Monseigneur,  the  Corate  d'Eu,  and  the  Church 
of  Nevers,  to  pray,  exhort,  summon,  and,  if  need  be,  adjure 
you  to  go  and  acquit  yourself  of  your  duty  towards  that  poor 
people  to  whom  you  are  indebted,  and,  above  all,  to  compensate 
for  the  defects  of  the  time  past,  by  showing  that  if  you  were 
then  a  bishop  so  far  as  the  title  is  concei'ned,  you  will  now  be 
so  in  reality.^  The  whole  of  our  society  have  found  this  claim 
so  just  that  I  must  entreat  and  beseech  you,  in  the  name  of 
God,  if  you  do  not  find  a  journey  to  Paris  useful  for  the  edifica- 
tion of  the  whole  church,  that  you  will  accept  this  charge.  We 
are  well  aware  that  in  that  case  it  will  be  necessary  to  provide 
the  Church  of  Issoudun  with  some  one  to  succeed  you  ;  but  we 
have  on  our  part  made  provision  for  that  necessity,  for  even 
before  we  had  learned  your  intentions,  we  heard  of  a  man  whom 
they  have  presented  to  us,  in  order  that  if  you  go  to  them,  they 
may  have  wherewithal  to  recompense  the  Church  of  Issoudun. 

Whereupon,  Monsieur  and  honoured  brother,  after  having 
presented  to  you  my  affectionate  commendations,  and  those  of 
all  our  society,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  holy  keeping,  to  sustain  you  by  his  power,  and  in- 
crease you  in  all  good,  making  your  labours  profitable  for  the 
advancement  of  his  kingdom. 

Your  servant  and  humble  brother, 

John  Calvin. 

Know  that  you  are  still  continued  a  councillor.  Now  we  are 
unwilling  either  to  lose  or  to  give  you  up. 

[Fr.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 

'  The  Reformed  of  Nevers  assembled  for  the  first  time  the  23d  of  March,  1561. 
Their  church  was  established  by  the  minister  La  Planche,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Comte  d'Eu  and  of  the  Marquis  d'Isles,  son  of  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  governor  of  the 
province. 


256  THEODORE   BEZA.  [1562. 


DCXXII.— To  Theodore  Beza.^ 

Catholic  League — Recommendations  of  the  family  of  Guillaume  de  Erie — Last  words 
of  that  Seigneur. 

Geneva,  llth  Fehmary,  1562. 

Since  your  two  melancholy  letters,  we  are  yet  ignorant  whe- 
ther any  change  for  the  better  has  taken  place,  and  rumour  has 
brought  us  no  accounts  that  can  diminish  my  anxiety.  Unless 
God  speedily  interfere,  a  new  opportunity  will  be  sought  for 
oppressing  our  cause.  Of  your  first  meeting^  something  has  got 
wind,  from  which  I  conjecture  that  you  argued  but  too  truly  when 
you  wrote  that  all  would  vanish  in  smoke.  Our  neighbours  are  in 
great  trepidation ;  we  as  yet  are  quietly  waiting  to  see  in  what 
quarter  the  attack  of  Philip  will  break  out,  who  is  said  to  be 
gradually  leading  troops  in  no  small  numbers  out  of  Spain,  and 
enlisting  other  soldiers  in  Italy.  I  cannot  yet  persuade  myself 
that  he  is  preparing  to  wage  a  common  war  at  once  with  the 
Pope  and  the  Venetians.  If  you  can  fish  out  any  news  respect- 
ing these  matters,  it  will  be  very  advantageous  for  our  interests 
to  be  made  acquainted  with  them  as  early  as  possible.  Cer- 
tainly, a  matter  of  such  moment  cannot  be  a  secret  at  court. 
See  then  that  you  cram  your  earliest  letters  with  details  of 
these  preparations.  We  are  perfectly  on  our  guard,  and  God, 
I  trust,  will  keep  watch  over  us,  so  that  the  enemy  may  not 
catch  us  unprepared.     If  it  is  an  open  war  that  is  to  be  made 

'  At  the  moment  in  which  L'H8pital  endeavoured  to  seal  by  reciprocal  concessions 
the  reconciliation  of  the  religious  parties,  the  Catholic  monarchs  of  Spain  and  Italy, 
confirming  their  alliances,  were  preparing  to  destroy  his  work  by  attacking,  with  arms 
in  their  hands,  Geneva  and  the  French  churches.  The  massacre  of  Vassy,  which  was 
about  to  usher  in  so  sadly  the  period  of  the  civil  wars,  was  but  the  partial  realization 
of  the  plan  traced  out  in  the  counsels  of  Philip  II.  "  The  audacity  and  effrontery 
of  the  enemy,"  wrote  Beza  to  Calvin,  "is  incredible.  If  the  edict  against  our  opi- 
nion were  known,  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  they  would  attempt  all  extremities.  I 
know,  however,  that  they  will  not  effect  all  they  desire,  nor  is  it  a  new  thing  for  us 
to  suffer  injustice." 

"  An  unseasonable  controversy  respecting  the  church  and  the  sacraments,  provoked 
by  the  adversaries  of  the  Reformed,  then  divided  the  Doctors  of  the  two  religions  still 
assembled  at  Poissy.  On  the  one  hand.  Be la,  Murlorat,  Perucel ;  on  the  other,  Sa- 
lignac,  D'Espense,  Bouthelier. 


1562.]  THEODORE    BEZA.  2o7 

on  us,  there  will  be  time  enough  to  summon  auxiliaries  to  our 
aid.  As  to  the  new  buildings  adjoining  to  the  gate,  I  had 
already  written  that  their  outcries  were  ridiculous,  for  no  one 
there  is  as  yet  suspected  by  us.'  You  Avill  communicate  the 
contents  of  my  letter  to  the  Admiral,  and  see  that  you  be  a 
faithful  advocate  of  the  cause  which  I  entrust  to  you.'^  I  beg 
of  him  to  aid  us  with  his  influence  and  authority  in  obtaining 
letters  patent  of  which  I  send  you  a  model,  and  also  a  copy 
of  a  petition.  As  the  brother  of  De  Frie  is  not  only  proud  and 
foolisli,  but  also  treacherous  and  cruel,  and,  in  one  word,  per- 
fectly unprincipled,  nothing  will  be  wrung  from  him  except  by 
main  force.  But  we  are  asking  for  nothing  illicit  or  difficult, 
but  what  has  been  already  every  where  granted  to  a  great  many, 
viz.,  that  minors  be  admitted  to  reclaim  their  rights.  Until  this 
preliminary  step  for  the  proceeding  be  gone  through,  we  dare 
not  bring;  an  action,  because  we  have  to  do  with  a  man  more 
than  usually  desperate.  Bernant,  I  trust,  will  undertake  the 
whole  charge,  but  as  much  as  it  will  be  in  your  power,  even  if 
it  should  put  you  to  some  inconvenience,  1  entreat  you  with  all 
the  earnestness  I  can  muster,  to  employ  also  your  influence  in  the 
matter ;  though,  in  truth,  I  forbear  to  express  all  my  zeal,  since 
I  am  sufficiently,  and  more  than  sufficiently  aware  of  what  you 
will  do  for  my  sake,  even  without  being  solicited.  But  be  tho- 
roughly persuaded,  nevertheless,  that  of  all  private  acts  of  friend- 
ship you  can  do  none  that  will  be  more  grateful  to  me.  I  owe 
it  to  the  memory  of  a  singularly  excellent  friend  to  cherish  his 
children  just  as  if  they  were  my  own.  He  has  deserved  that 
from  his  incredible  affection  towards  mc,  from  the  filial  piety 
with  which  he  cherished  me,  and  the  deference  which  he  paid  me 
up  to  the  moment  of  his  death ;  and  it  would  be  a  stain  of  in- 
famy on  my  character,  if  the  confidence  which  he  reposed  in  me 
should  be  disappointed.  His  last  dying  words  will  ever  remain 
engraven  on  my  memory,  when  he  addressed  me  in  presence  of 

'  Beza  had  warned  Calvin  to  be  on  his  giinrd  against  a  soldier,  named  Ferrnnd,  "  and 
especially  to  keep  a  strict  watch  over  the  gates  during  the  sermons." — Letter  of  the 
6th  Janiiiiry,  1561. 

'  Suilliiuiue  de  Trie,  at  his  death,  had  left  several  children  stripped  of  their  father's 
fortune,  by  the  application  of  the  penalty  that  had  been  pronounced  against  the  re- 
fugees. 

33 


258  THEODORE   BEZA.  [1562. 

his  wife  and  children.  "Here  are  your  chiklren,  and  as  God 
is  now  taking  me  away,  I  entreat  you,  according  as  I  have  been 
to  you  a  dutiful  son,  not  to  disown  those  that  remain  to  you.  I 
disavow  them  if  they  do  not  bear  towards  you  more  honour  and 
obedience  than  towards  myself.  I  resign  to  you  all  they  owe  me, 
and  also  all  I  owe  to  you  it  is  their  duty  to  acquit."  I  have 
thought  proper  to  quote  these  expressions  to  you,  that  if  you 
should  encounter  any  obstacle  from  the  indolence  of  others,  you 
cease  not  to  stimulate  them,  until  what  we  have  in  view  be  ac- 
complished. 

Farewell  again  and  again,  most  excellent  brother.  We  shall 
shortly  know,  I  suppose,  whether  our  friend  M.  Normandie  is 
still  irresolute.  I  thought  that  for  the  settlement  of  his  busi- 
ness the  form  of  separation  of  which  I  had  written  to  you  was 
sufficient,  but  we  shall  see  what  his  next  letters  will  announce. 
If  the  ties  by  which  he  is  bound  are  inextricable,  let  him  rather, 
in  fine,  burst  them  asunder,  than  that  we  should  always  be  de- 
prived of  him. 

Farewell,  both  of  you,  again  and  again.  May  the  Lord  pro- 
tect and  govern  you,  enrich  you  with  every  blessing,  and  sup- 
port you  even  to  the  end  with  his  invincible  courage.  Our  col- 
leagues very  zealously  salute  you. 

Yours,  Charles  Passelius. 

[Lat.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCXXIII.— To  Theodore  Beza. 

Imprudent  concessions  made  to  the  Catholic  prelates — iRegrets  and  warnings  of  Calvin. 

Geneva,  18«A  February,  1562. 

Ihave  had  no  news  from  you  since  you  briefly  related  to  me 
a  pleasant  account  of  the  result  of  the  second  conference.'  It 
is  true,  that  the  court  being  full  of  intrigues  that  are  ever  trans- 
piring, many  rumours  penetrate  as  far  as  us,  and  we  are  com- 

'  See  page  256,  note  2.     This  second  colloquy  had  no  greater  results  than  the  for- 
mer, as  we  see  by  the  letters  of  Theodore  Beza  to  Calvin,  lb&2,  paaaim. 


1562.]  THEODORE    BEZA.  259 

pelled  to  hear  more  things  than  you  are  aware  of.  This  is  one 
of  the  eifects  of  distance  that  many  folks  among  us  fancy  they 
know  more  than  ocular  witnesses  who  are  on  the  spot.  I  am 
surprised  that  in  the  first  colloquy  you  did  not  perceive  into 
what  snares  you  threw  yourselves.  The  method  you  adopted 
always  displeased  me,  viz.,  your  making  one-half  of  your  cause 
repose  on  the  testimony  of  antiquity.  On  this  matter,  the 
agreement  between  us  is  like  that  which  subsists  between  fire 
and  water.  But  because  you  committed  this  slip,  not  from  error 
or  want  of  reflection,  I  leave  that  decision  free  to  you.  The 
wound,  however,  which  was  beginning  to  be  cicatrized  is  again 
evidently  bleeding  afresh,  and  compels  me  to  profess  how  greatly 
I  differ  from  you.  There  was  a  certain  plausibility  in  opposing 
the  authority  of  antiquity  against  images.  But  with  such  an 
argument,  how  are  you  to  deal  Avith  the  chrism  in  baptism,  auri- 
cular confession,  and  the  wax-tapers  of  Easter  ?  But  I  will  not 
give  free  scope  to  my  reflections,  lest  I  should  appear  to  see 
farther  than  Marlorat  and  such  persons.  Meanwhile,  I  am 
sorry  for  you  whom  their  folly  has  plunged  deep  in  the  mire. 
I  have  briefly  touched  upon  what  I  conceive  to  be  expedient  in 
what  concerns  a  council.'  After  reading  it  you  will  perhaps  not 
pay  much  attention  to  it,  because  it  contains  little  but  what  is 
commonplace ;  but  I  preferred  to  comply  with  your  wishes, 
though  producing  nothing,  to  refusing  what  you  demanded.  I 
now  pass  on  to  other  subjects.  Our  neighbours  recently  made 
a  serious  application  to  the  senate  for  the  purpose  of  warning 
your  graceless  Absalom  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  immense 
forces  that  are  now  being  levied  against  him.*  They  relate  a 
great  many  things  which,  I  fancy,  are  brought  to  your  ears 
from  other  quarters.  On  the  other  hand,  you  will  learn  from 
his  letter  what  occupation  Bullingor  is  creating' for  us.  I  did 
not  venture  to  suppress  this  letter,  lest  the  affair  should  be 
betrayed  by  our  silence.  I  charge  this  task  upon  you,  lest 
either  party  should  complain  that  an  excellent  opportunity  had 

'  Calvin  had  already  developed  his  opinion  on  this  subject  in  a  special  memorial 
to  the  Reformed  churches,  page  158. 

"  Allusion  to  the  menaces  uttered  by  Philip  II.  against  the  young  King  Charle?  TX., 
and  his  mother,  on  the  occasion  of  the  promulgation  of  the  Edict  of  January,  which 
had  appeared  to  the  sovereign  of  Spain  a  dereliction  of  the  Catholic  faith. 


260  -  THE   DUCHESS    OF   FERRARA.  [1562. 

been  neglected  through  our  fastidiousness.  One  thing  I  ear- 
nestly entreat  of  you,  (mark  the  emphasis  of  ray  expression,) 
it  is  that  you  give  me  as  early  an  answer  as  possible.  I  have 
not  many  Dallers  to  furnish  with  information  people  who  are 
half  famished  for  want  of  news.  Then  you  are  well  aware  that 
they  who  are  slower  than  snails  strangely  abuse  our  French 
hastiness.  As  soon  as  possible  free  me  from  my  inquietude. 
But  what,  after  all,  if  this  is  nothing  but  a  little  smoke  got  up 
to  strike  terror?  That  does  not  concern  me,  provided  only  you 
make  haste  to  give  me  news.  In  such  a  press  of  business  I 
wished  to  spare  you.  I  could  not,  however,  do  otherwise  than 
send  you  Sulcer's  letter,  a  proof  of  his  fatuity  and  impudence, 
which  I  would  have  you  despise  as  it  deserves. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  and  friendly  brother.  May  the  Lord 
always  stand  by  you,  sustain  you  by  his  invincible  courage,  and 
preserve  you  in  safety. 

Yours,  Charles  Passelius. 

All  your  colleagues  salute  you  very  earnestly,  as  also  the  new 
syndics,  and  the  senate. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCXXIV. — To  THE  Duchess  of  Ferrara.' 

League  against  the  Reformation — Complaints  respecting  the  conduct  of  the  Duchess 

of  Guise. 

Geneva,  February,  1562. 

Madame: — I  am  delighted  to  have  the  means  of  writing  to 
you  in  surety  by  the  bearer,  not  that  I  have  anything  of  impor- 
tance to  communicate  to  you  at  this  moment,  but  that  I  may 
acquit  myself  of  my  duty,  and  also  because  I  fancy  my  letters, 
in  consequence  of  your  favourable  indulgence,  are  not  unwelcome 
to  you.  If  they  could  be  in  any  way  profitable  to  you  I  should 
make  an  effort  to  let  you  have  them  more  frequently.  But  you 
have,  thank  God,  in  your  household  a  man  every  way  qualified 

'  Without  date.  Written  a  short  time  before  the  massacre  of  Vassy,  that  is,  in 
February,  1562. 


1562.]  THE  DUCHESS  OF  FERRARA.  261 

to  exhort  3*011  and  confirm  you  in  all  you  stand  in  need  of.'  I 
have  no  news  to  send  you  that  you  may  not  learn  from  other 
sources,  especially  none  that  can  afford  you  pleasure,  and  I  dis- 
like to  put  you  to  pain,  though  I  am  compelled  to  disburden  my 
mind,  not  without  great  regret,  of  a  sorrow  common  to  all  the 
children  of  God.  You  know,  Madame,  what  the  enemies  of  the 
truth  are  hatching;  witness  the  league  of  the  Pope  with  the 
King  of  Spain,  the  Venetians,  and  the  potentates  of  Italy,  in 
which  our  neighbour  is  included.  They  verily  think  that  it  is 
their  duty  to  banish  all  Christianity  out  of  the  world.  Now  in 
the  mean  time,  Madame  de  Guise  is  pursuing  a  course  which  can 
only  lead  to  her  own  confusion  if  she  continue  in  it ;  for  though 
she  does  not  think  so,  yet  it  is  most  certain  that  she  is  seeking 
the  ruin  of  the  poor  churches  in  France,  of  which  God  will  be  the 
protector  in  order  to  maintain  them.^ 

Again  I  protest,  Madame,  that  I  would  fain  abstain  from 
giving  you  uneasiness,  but  on  the  other  hand  I  should  wish  that 
she  were  induced  by  your  authority  to  moderate  her  passions, 
which  she  cannot  obey  as  she  does  without  making  war  on  God. 
I  tell  you  frankly,  Madame,  what  everybody  knows,  that  you 
may  devise  what  good  means  can  be  applied  to  divert  her  from 
conspiring  with  those  who  seek  for  nothing  but  to  abolish  pure 
religion,  and  prevent  her  from  being  mixed  up  with  intrigues  of 
which  the  issue  cannot  but  be  unfortunate,  inasmuch  as  they  are 
directed  against  God. 

Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  keep 
you  always  under  his  protection,  to  fortify  you  by  his  power, 
and  increase  you  in  all  good  and  prosperity. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupiiy.     Vol.  102.] 

•3d  Julj'  1561  :  "A  minister  is  accorded  to  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  on  condition 
that  it  be  neither  M.  Calvin  nor  M.  Beza."  lte<ji»tre»  du  Conseil.  This  minister  was 
Francis  de  Morel. 

"Anne  d'Este,  daughter  of  Renee  of  Franco  and  Duchess  of  Guise.  Brought  up  at 
the  court  of  Ferrara,  in  the  Reformed  faith,  she  was  obliged  to  abandon  it  in  contract- 
ing an  alliance  with  the  house  of  Lorraine,  but  she  always  gave  proofs  of  a  generous 
mind  equally  removed  from  the  excesses  of  both  parties.  The  massacre  of  Vassy, 
which  she  vainly  endeavoured  to  prevent,  caused  to  full  upon  her  the  hatred  and  un- 
popularity attached  to  the  name  of  Francis  de  Guise  among  the  Protestants. 


262  BULLINGER.  [1562. 


DCXXV.— To    BULLINGER.' 

News  of  France — Disorders  at  Aix — Progress  of  the  gospel — Negotiations  with  the 
court — Synod  of  Neuchatel. 

Geneva,  12th  3Iarch,  1562. 

When  I  wrote  lately  to  our  friend  Blaurer  I  was  prevented 
from  doing  so  to  you,  because,  before  I  was  quite  recovered  from 
an  attack  of  fever,  a  domestic  sorrow,  occasioned  by  the  dis- 
honour of  my  step-daughter,  compelled  me  to  seek  the  privacy 
of  solitude  for  a  few  days.  When  I  was  in  my  rustic  cottage 
your  letter  was  presented  to  me,  with  the  contents  of  which  many 
rumours  from  other  quarters  perfectly  agree.  We  have,  then, 
good  reason  to  be  afraid.  But  how  to  take  measures  of  pre- 
caution is  difficult.  How  great  the  confusion  is  in  France,  you 
will  learn  partly  from  a  letter  of  our  brother  Beza,  of  which  I 
send  you  a  copy,  and  I  will  myself  partly  briefly  allude  to  it. 
At  Aix,  which  is  the  seat  of  the  Parliament,  a  sedition  has  been 
stirred  up  by  the  Papists,  that  they  might  exclude  from  his 
government,  the  Comte  of  Crussol,  who  had  been  appointed  to 
command  there  with  supreme  authority.  But  he  having  assem- 
bled a  few  companies  of  soldiers  forced  them  to  open  their  gates, 
and  gave  orders  to  have  some  of  them  hanged.  A  part  of  the 
faction  which  had  found  means  to  escape  still  keeps  possession 
of  a  neighbouring  city,  which  is  tolerably  well  fortified.  But 
want  of  provisions  will  ere  long  force  them  to  a  surrender,  for 
hitherto  they  have  spread  themselves  up  and  down  the  countrj- 
like  men  on  a  chess-board.  The  Parliament  itself  is  pronouncing 
severe  sentences  on  the  rebels,  although  many  of  the  judges 
themselves  are  implicated  in  the  same  crime.     They  are  spared 

'  In  a  letter  written  to  Dr.  George  Tanner,  the  10th  March,  1562,  Calvin  thus  de- 
picted the  state  of  France  at  this  period.  "  I  dare  scarcely  allude  to  the  affairs  of 
France,  they  are  in  such  disorder  and  confusion.  The  number  of  the  godly  indeed 
daily  increases.  The  alacrity  and  zeal  are  astonishing.  Dut  the  fickleness  of  one 
man  {the  Kin;/  of  Navarre)  is  the  cause  why  the  Parliament  of  Paris  assails  Christ 
with  obstinate  fury."  Disorders  break  out  everywhere  in  consequence  of  the  refusal 
of  the  Parliament  to  register  the  Edict  of  Jamiary. 


1562.]  BULLINGER.  2G3 

in  the  mean  time  till  the  violence  of  the  tumult  be  a  little  spent. 
Marseilles  and  some  other  cities,  which  were  meditating  a  revolt, 
have  been  reduced  to  subjection  by  having  garrisons  placed  in 
them.  The  Parliament  of  Toulouse  would  willingly  have  thrown 
everything  into  disorder,  but  the  magistrates  of  the  city  who  are 
called  capitouls,  because  to  them  belongs  the  ordinary  juris- 
diction, having  assembled  a  powerful  and  energetic  body  of  men 
so  completely  subdued  the  arrogance  and  cruelty  of  the  Parlia- 
ment, that  now  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city  there  are  free  meetings 
of  the  godly  to  the  number  of  ten  thousand  men.  Indeed 
fifteen  thousand  have  proclaimed  their  adherence  to  the  gospel. 
In  Auvergne  the  nobility  still  rages  most  obstinately.  Among 
the  Armoricans,  that  is,  in  Britanny,  the  nobility  have  almost  to 
a  man  embraced  the  gospel.  Also  in  Picardy,  but  the  populace 
cannot  be  brought  over.  In  Champaigne  and  the  district  of 
Sens  they  are  rather  lukewarm.  The  Burgundians  begin  to 
show  a  bolder  spirit.  They  obey  the  edict  of  the  king,  but  to 
see  such  numerous  bodies  proceeding  in  an  orderly  manner,  in- 
stead of  God's  being  worshipped  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the 
city,  is  what  still  more  galls  their  adversaries. 

Certainly  nothing  retards  so  much  the  progress  of  Christ's 
kingdom  as  the  paucity  of  ministers.  Beza  indeed  informs  us 
that  Julian '  is  attempting  to  ruin  everything  at  court,  but  what- 
ever evil  he  is  creating  will  fall  on  his  own  head.  He  had  not, 
however,  yet  received  my  last  letter.  The  queen  too,  now  that 
she  will  see  that  they  are  coming  to  her  aid,  will  probably  be 
more  violently  exasperated  against  us.  I  will  only  urge,  as  I 
have  hitherto  done,  that  our  brethren  who  but  too  late  have 
made  head  against  these  extreme  measures,  should  not  allow  so 
fine  an  opportunity  to  escape  them.  The  advice  which  Beza 
asked  of  me  I  had  already  sent  to  him.''     I  send  you  a  copy  of 

'  The  King  of  Navarre :  "  You  can  scarcely  believe  what  deplorable  scenes  he 
creates,  whom  it  least  of  all  becomes  to  do  so.  If  I  have  any  occasion  in  future  to 
write  of  him,  I  shall  denominate  him  Julian,  In  one  word  I  will  say  that  we  have 
need  that  the  Lord  should  execute  his  judgments ;  hardly  any  such  instance  of  fickle- 
ness, perfidy,  and  profligacy  exists."     Beza  Cnlvino,  26th  February,  1662. 

""  They  inrjuire  earnestly  upon  what  conditions  wo  should  establish  a  free  and 
Christian  council.  I  ask  you  to  aid  us  on  the  earliest  occasion  with  your  advice." 
Ibidem, 


264  BULLINGER.  [1562. 

it  ill  Latin,  though  I  have  preferred  to  render  literally  in  bar- 
barous style  my  French  reply,  rather  than  aim  at  expressing 
myself  with  the  elegance  of  a  pure  Latinity.  I  have  also  en- 
deavoured to  be  concise,  but  without,  however,  omitting  anything 
that  is  essential.  If  I  shall  seem  to  have  made  more  concession 
to  the  adverse  party  than  I  ought,  you  will  remember  that  I 
was  not  at  liberty  to  consult  my  own  wishes.  I  was  under  the 
necessity  of  accommodating  what  I  said  to  the  capacity  of  the 
queen.  I  had  two  objects  in  view:  first,  that  the  Papists 
should  repudiate  our  conditions,  should  they  chance  to  be 
favourably  received  by  the  council,  which  it  is  certain  they 
will  be  next,  if  they  shall  be  forced  to  submit  to  the  yoke,  that 
no  council  of  any  sort  shall  have  in  their  power  to  do  us  any 
injury.  I  judged  it  more  advantageous  for  us  to  sit  in  it  as 
tribunes  of  the  people,  than  being  confounded  with  the  senators 
to  be  overwhelmed  by  the  majority  of  votes.  You  will  look  to 
what  our  brother  Beza  asks  of  you,  and  determine  with  your 
colleagues  what  shall  be  most  expedient,  and  with  all  convenient 
speed.  If  anything  of  greater  importance  take  place,  endeavour 
to  be  early  made  acquainted  with  it.  When  Cognet  arrives,  he 
will  aid  us  in  carrying  letters  backward  and  forward.  The  ap- 
probation of  France  will  expose  the  hypocrisy  of  those  who  place 
all  their  reliance  on  men,  will  increase  the  courage  of  the  godly, 
and  teach  them  to  rely  more  upon  God  alone,  and  the  agita- 
tion will  at  the  same  time  stir  them  up  to  have  recourse  to 
prayer. 

In  reading  over  what  I  have  written,  I  perceive  that  I  have 
omitted  to  allude  to  a  subject  which  I  had  determined  to  do. 
Already  about  the  middle  of  February  a  report  was  circulated 
in  this  neighbourhood,  that  the  senate  of  Berne  had  been  induced 
by  your  advice  to  change  its  resolution  respecting  the  convoca- 
tion of  a  Synod,  and  that  those  who  were  preparing  to  set  out 
for  it  had  been  suddenly  countermanded  by  an  edict.  I  am 
quite  aware  that  you  have  acted  with  proper  intentions,  but  a 
sJight  experience  will  show  you  that  your  advice  was  far  from 
being  salutary.  You  have  no  occasion  to  solicit  my  co-opera- 
tion, for  I  declare  that  all  our  prospects  are  ruined.  I  dispense 
with  saying  anything  more.     Being  lately  summoned  to  a  synod 


1562.]  PETER    MARTYR.  265 

at  Neuchatel,  I  begged  to  be  excused,  lest  those  ayIio  feign  to 
have  need  of  my  assistance,  should  exclaim  that  I  go  beyond 
my  bounds.  I  am  summoned  to  it  a  second  time.  I  am  un- 
certain what  I  shall  do.  This  I  know  that  you  arc  greatly  and 
too  greatly  mistaken  in  thinking  that  they  desire  to  consult  for 
the  good  of  the  church.  I  could  wish  I  were  in  the  remotest 
corners  of  the  earth,'  when  I  see  them  so  insultingly  making 
game  of  me. 

[Lat.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCXXVI.— To  Peter  Martyr.^ 

Disorders  the  precursors  of  the  civil  wars  in  France — Opposition  of  tbe  Reformer  to 
the  Council  of  Trent. 

GknevA,  Uth  March,  1562. 

Now,  at  last,  I  have  received  your  letter,  most  accomplished 
and  venerable  brother,  to  which  if  I  give  a  short  reply  without 
adding  any  apology  you  will  know  how  to  account  for  it.  The 
Bernese  have  not  changed  their  resolution  about  calling  a  synod. 
A  report  had  gone  abroad  that  by  the  advice  of  Bullinger  they 
had  done  so.  From  whatever  quarter  that  rumour  arose,  still 
from  the  contempt  of  a  remedy  in  mortal  diseases;  I  augur  no- 
thing but  what  is  disastrous.  But  not  to  entangle  myself  in 
such  a  labyrinth  of  matters,  I  pass  on  to  others.  Our  brother 
Beza  is  exercised  with  hard  trials.  By  the  treachery  and 
wickedness  of  Julian,  he  narrowly  escaped,  a  short  time  ago, 
from  being  dragged  to  execution,  along  with  many  others,  but 
God  miraculously  brought  to  naught  such  infamous  attempts.'^ 

•  Ultra  Sauromafas. 

"  This  letter  is  the  la.8t  of  Calvin's  correspondence  with  Martyr,  who  died  at  Zurich 
on  the  12th  November,  1562. 

^  Is  this  an  allusion  to  the  journey  of  Theodore  Beza  to  the  court  which  was  then 
assemViled  at  the  Chateau  of  Monceaux,  and  to  his  eloquent  protestation  against  the 
massacre  of  Vassy?  It  was  at  that  time  he  addressed  to  the  King  of  Navarre,  in 
the  face  of  the  Guises,  this  proud  saying: — "It  is,  in  truth,  the  part  of  the  chnrch 
of  God  to  endure  blows  and  not  to  inflict  any;  remember,  however,  that  it  is  an  an- 
vil on  which  many  hammers  have  been  broken," 


266  THE    QUEEN    OF    NAVARRE.  [1562. 

Now  though  that  apostate  has  summoned  the  Guises  to  court,  in 
order  to  have  recourse  to  the  worst  extremities,  Beza,  never- 
theless, trusts  not  onlj  that  these  efforts  will  be  unavailing,  but 
that  the  church  will  receive  so  great  an  increase  that  they  will 
not  dare  to  attempt  any  thing  afterwards.  The  first  collision 
is  to  be  dreaded,  unless  God  speedily  come  to  our  aid,  which  we 
should  ask  by  continual  prayers.  But  though  serious  threats 
and  terrors  are  impending  everywhere  over  us,  I  nevertheless 
augur  that  something  prosperous  will  come  out  of  it.  Since 
the  Pope  will  not  satisfy  King  Philip,  and  the  Duke  of  Florence 
is  under  apprehensions  from  both  of  them,  I  doubt  not  but  our 
brethren  will  present  to  the  king  and  his  council  a  form  of  pro- 
testation against  the  Council  of  Trent.  The  queen,  also,  would 
wish  us  to  interfere,  as  I  reminded  M.  Bullinger.  You  will  see 
what  advantages  may  arise  from  it.  It  would  be  absurd  for  us 
to  attempt  any  thing  apart,  but  we  will  willingly  subscribe  to 
the  words  of  the  resolution. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  honoured  brother.  May 
the  Lord  always  stand  by  you,  long  preserve  you  from  danger, 
and  bless  your  labours.  The  Marquis  and  the  others  salute 
you.  I  beg  also  to  present  my  best  respects  to  your  wife  and 
family. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

\^Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102,  p.  59.] 


DCXXYII. — To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre.* 

Expression  of  warm  sympathy  for  the  trials  of  this  princess. 

Geneva,  lid  March,  1562. 

Madame  : — My  compassion  for  your  sorrows  makes  me  feel, 
in  part,  how  severe  they  must  be  to  you,  and  how  bitter  to  sup- 

'  Offended  in  her  dignity  as  a  wife  and  a  mother,  by  the  disorderly  conduct  of  her 
husband,  deeply  afflicted  by  his  union  with  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation,  this  princess 
was  a  prey  to  the  most  poignant  distress.  "  The  Queen  of  Navarre,  however,  like  a 
prudent  and  virtuous  princess  as  she  is,  endeavoured  to  bring  back  her  husband,  sup- 
porting every  thing  which  she  could,  and  pointing  out  to  him  what  he  owed  to  God 
and  his  followers.     But  in  vain,  to  such  a  degree  is  he  infatuated.     Seeing  that  she 


1562.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE.  2C7 

port.  But  be  they  what  they  will,  assuredly  it  is  infinitely  bet- 
ter to  be  sorrowful  for  such  a  cause  than  to  live  in  contented 
indifference  to  the  perdition  of  your  soul.  It  is  a  desirable 
thing  to  live  at  ease  when  God  affords  such  a  blessing  to  his 
children,  as  to  put  it  into  their  power  fully  to  rejoice,  and  since 
that  is  a  privilege  which  does  not  always  last,  if  it  please  him 
to  try  us  sharply,  it  is  also  desirable  to  follow  him  through 
rugged  and  difficult  ways.  You  have  been  taught,  Madame, 
that  we  cannot  serve  him  without  fighting.  The  kinds  of  com- 
bats are  diverse,  but  in  whatever  way  it  shall  please  God  to 
exercise  us,  we  ought  to  be  prepared  for  it.  If  the  assaults 
you  have  to  sustain  are  rude  and  terrible,  God  has  long  ago 
furnished  you  with  an  opportunity  of  meditating  on  them  be- 
forehand. The  king,  your  husband,  has  already  been  long 
assaulted  by  two  of  the  devil's  horns — I  mean  D'Escars'  and 
the  Bishop  of  Auxerre.^  Not  only  has  he  allowed  himself  to 
be  cast  down  by  them,  but,  of  his  own  accord,  he  arms  himself 
against  God  and  God's  children.  I  speak  as  of  a  thing  that  is 
notorious.  I  know,  Madame,  that  the  first  batteries  are  directed 
against  you.  But  though  the  difficulties  should  be  a  hundred 
times  greater,  the  courage  which  comes  from  on  high,  when  we 
have  recourse  to  it,  will  be  victorious.  Remember  only  never 
to  weary  of  holding  out,  having  God  for  your  guaranty,  for  we 
do  not  obey  him  at  random,  inasmuch  as  his  promise  cannot  fail 
that  he  will  give  a  favourable  issue  to  our  constancy  when  it  is 
founded  on  his  word.  Therefore,  should  the  whole  world  be 
turned  upside  down,  if  our  anchor  is  cast  in  heaven,  however 
tossed  we  may  be,  most  assuredlj'-  we  shall  arrive  in  safety  at 
the  harbour.     St.  Paul  says  that  He  is  faithful  to  keep  that  which 

had  recourse  but  to  tears  and  prayers,  filling  every  one  with  compassion,  except  the 
said  sieur,  the  king,  the  queen-mother,  in  the  mean  time,  tried  to  persuade  her  to 
humour  the  king,  her  husband.  At  last,  she  made  this  reply,  that  rather  than  go  to 
mass,  if  she  held  her  kingdom  and  her  son  in  her  hand,  she  would  throw  them  both 
into  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  if  they  should  be  an  obstacle  to  her  in  the  perforiuanca 
of  her  duty.  On  receiving  this  answer,  they  ceased  to  trouble  her  on  that  point." — 
Beza,  Hist.  Ecd.,  vol.  i.,  p.  689. 

'  Francis  d'Escars,  servant  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  "a  man,"  says  Mezeray,  "who 
sold  himself  for  money  to  every  body  except  his  master." 

*  Philip  de  Lenoncourt,  Bishop  of  Auxerre,  suborned  by  the  Guises  to  bring  back 
the  King  of  Navarre  to  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church. 


268  STURM.  [1562. 

we  have  committed  to  him.  Thus  knowing  in  whom  we  have 
believed,  let  us  persevere,  pitying  those  who  amuse  themselves 
with  such  paltry  attractions  as  even  little  children  would  laugh 
at.  In  the  mean  time,  Madame,  you  shall  not  be  forgotten  in 
our  prayers,  as  we  learn  both  from  our  brother  M.  Beza  and 
others  that  you  desire  them.  I  feel  very  confident,  Madame, 
that  God  will  hear  your  groanings,  as  well  as  ours,  provided  we 
offer  to  him  the  sacrifice  of  humility  which  he  desires.  For, 
though  we  may  and  should  be  bold  in  maintaining  his  quarrel, 
still  we  ought  to  attribute  it  to  our  sins  that  the  course  of  his 
gospel  is  retarded.  Whatever  happen,  in  the  midst  of  all  your 
distresses  remember  the  saying  of  St.  Paul:  "Let  us  rejoice 
in  the  Lord  continually,  and  I  say  unto  you  again  rejoice ;" 
words  uttered,  no  doubt,  that  we  may  have  an  invincible  cour- 
age amid  all  our  afflictions. 

Madame,  as  the  bearer  will  return  to  you  to  know  whither  it 
will  please  you  to  direct  him,  I  cannot  help  declaring  that  he 
has  conducted  himself  here  so  well  that  we  could  have  wished 
to  retain  him  altogether,  which  we  should  have  done  had  he  not 
been  dedicated  to  your  churches.  I  know  he  has  not  lost  his 
time  in  coming  here,  as  the  fact  will  show. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXXVIIL— To  Sturm.' 

Mission  of  Bud6  into  Germany — Duplicity  of  the  Guises. 

Geneva,  25th  3farch,  1562. 

For  what  reason  our  friend  Budd  has  undertaken  this  mission, 
he  himself  will  better  explain  to  you  orally  than  it  would  be 
safe  for  me  to  do  by  letter.  I  doubt  not  but  the  cause  when  it 
shall  be  laid  before  you  will  meet  with  your  warmest  support. 

'  At  the  moment  when  the  massacre  of  Vassy  rendered  the  civil  war  inevitable, 
Calvin,  devoted  to  his  peaceful  mission,  tried  the  effect  of  a  last  measure  upon  the 
Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  in  order  to  obtain  from  them  an  embassy  to  the  king 
with  instructions  to  exhort  him  to  maintain  the  Edict  of  January,  and  not  suffer  him- 
self to  be  led  on  by  the  fatal  influence  of  the  Guises.  Sturm  was  the  confident  and 
natural  intermediary  of  these  steps,  which  produced  no  result. 


1562.]  THE  CHURCH  of  lyons.  2G9 

Nay,  as  it  is  a  cause  common  to  you  and  us,  I  deem  it  superflu- 
ous to  exhort  you  in  many  words  to  embrace  it.  If  the  liberty 
which  has  been  promised  us  by  an  edict  be  not  destroyed,  the 
Papacy  will  fall  to  pieces  of  itself.  The  Guises  will  therefore 
have  recourse  to  all  extremities,  in  order  forcibly  to  deprive  us 
of  it.  But  to  repress  their  assaults  it  is  of  the  highest  import- 
ance that  the  princes  of  Germany  should  interfere  to  exhort 
the  king  to  constancy,  and  declare  that  their  good  offices  will  be 
erapl(y)^ed  in  his  favour  as  far  as  opportunities  will  permit.  If 
those  furies  lately  made  any  dissembling  promises  at  Saverne,' 
the  atrocious  act  which  immediately  followed  has  revealed  how 
vain  and  deceitful  all  their  flatteries  were.  For  scarcely  had 
they  quitted  the  colloquy,  when  they  hurried  to  the  perpetra- 
tion of  the  most  barbarous  massacre.'^  But  these  things,  and 
whatever  relates  to  the  cause,  you  will  learn  from  Bud(?. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  and  honoured  sir.      May  the 
Lord  always  stand  by  you  and  preserve  you  in  safety. 
[Led.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCXXIX.— To  THE  Church  of  Lyons.^ 

Severe  admonitions  because  of  the  conduct  of  one  of  its  ministers. 

Geneva,  \Zth  May,  1562. 

Dearly  beloved  Brethren  : — We  have  already  long  waited 
for  letters  from  you,  in  order  to  have  an  opportunity  in  answer- 

'  Adding  craft  to  hatred,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  and  his  brother  Francis  de  Guise 
had  attracted  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  to  Saverne,  and  affected  in  their  interview 
with  this  prince  the  warmest  desire  to  labour  for  the  Reformation  of  the  Church,  at 
the  moment  they  were  hatching  the  most  odious  plot  against  the  Reformed.  Schmidt, 
Vie  de  Sturm,  pp.  110,  111. 

*  The  conferences  took  place  in  February,  and  the  massacre  on  the  1st  of  March, 
1562. 

'  Exasperated  by  the  news  of  the  massacre  of  Vassy,  and  supported  by  several  cap- 
tains of  the  Prince  of  Conde's  army,  the  Protestants  of  Lyons  took  possession  of  the 
town  on  the  30th  April,  1562.  This  audacious  act,  accomplished  in  a  few  hours,  and 
almost  without  bloodshed,  was  followed  by  excesses  greatly  to  be  regretted.  The 
Church  of  St.  John  was  sacked,  and  given  up  to  be  pillaged  by  the  Huguenots,  and 
these  violent  deeds  remained  unpunished.      Informed  of  what  bad  taken  place  at 


270  THE    CHURCH    OF    LYONS.  [1562. 

ing  them,  of  disburdening  our  hearts  of  what  lies  so  heavily  on 
them.     But  since  the  change  which  has  taken  place  at  Lyons, 
we  have  not  received  a  single  word  either  from  you  or  the  so- 
ciety of  the  elders,  which  leads  us  to  suppose  that  there  is  much 
disorder,  seeing  that  we  are  solicited  by  certain  persons  to  suc- 
cour your  church,  and  you  drop  not  one  word  about  it.     Nay, 
when  the  Sire  Jerome  des  Gouttes,  passing  by  here  a  short  time 
ago,  asked  us  to  send  ministers  to  aid  you,  he  declared  that  he 
was  the  bearer  of  no  letters  from  you.     In  the  mean  tiqje,  we 
have  news  which  causes  us  great  distress.     We  are  perfectly 
aware  that  in  such  disturbances  it  is  difficult  to  preserve  so 
much  moderation  as  that  no  excesses  shall  be  committed,  and 
we  could  easily  excuse  you  for  not  having  held  the  bridle  so 
tight  as  might  have  been  desirable.     But  there  are  things  quite 
insupportable  concerning  which  we  are  forced  to  write  to  you 
with  greater  asperity  than  we  could  have  wished.     We  should 
be  traitors  to  God,  to  you,  and  to  Christianity  itself,  if  we  dis- 
sembled what  to  our  great  regret  is  spoken  of  you  here.     It  is 
an  unbecoming  act  in  a  minister  to  play  the  trooper,  or  captain, 
but  it  is  much  worse  when  one  quits  the  pulpit  to  carry  arms.' 
But  the  worst  of  all  is  to  go  to  the  governor  of  a  town,  pistol  in 
hand,  and  glorying  in  force  and  violence,  to  threaten  him  ;  here 
are  the  words  that  have  been  repeated  to  us,  and  which  we  hold 
from  trustworthy  witnesses  :   "  Sir,  you  must  do  it,  for  we  have 
force  in  our  hands."     We  tell  you  frankly  that  we  feel  as  much 
disgust  at  expressions  of  that  sort  as  at  the  sight  of  a  monster. 
We  were  also  exceedingly  displeased  at  the  seal  appended  by 
the  governor  and  the  ministers.     We  pronounce  the  same  judg- 
ment about  the  passports,  and  such  like  things,  the  enormity 
of  which  has  disgusted  many  people ;  that  is  to  say,  alienated 
them  from  the  gospel,  and  troubled  and  grieved  all  persons  who 
have  any  piety  and  modesty.     Nor  was  this  enough  for  them, 
but  they  must  scour  the  whole  country,  carrying  off  booty  and 

Lyons  by  the  minister  Viret,  whose  eloquence  had  greatly  contributed  to  calm  the 
passions  that  had  been  let  loose,  Calvin  addressed  severe  reproaches  to  the  ministers 
of  this  church. — See  De  Thou,  Lib.  xxxi.  ;  Beza,  vol.  iii.,  p.  221. 

•  The  Minister  Jacques  Rufi,  a  man  of  energy  and  action,  had  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  armed  bands,  and  had  powerfully  contributed  to  the  taking  of  the  town. — 
See  Beza  and  De  Thou,  wt  stipi-a. 


1562.]  THEODORE  BEZA.  271 

pillaging  the  cows  and  other  cattle,  and  that  too  even  since  the 
Baron  des  Adrets  arrived  invested  with  authority'','  who  did  not 
approve  of  such  misdeeds  with  which  those  who  boast  of  being 
the  ministers  of  God's  word  were  not  ashamed  to  mix  themselves 
up.  Now  these  old  wounds  have  been  again  ripped  up,  for  we 
have  been  told  that  the  booty  which  had  been  taken  from  St. 
John's  church  has  been  exposed  to  sale  to  the  highest  bidder, 
and  knocked  down  for  a  hundred  and  twelve  crowns ;  nay,  they 
promised  the  soldiers  that  they  would  distribute  to  each  of  them 
his  portion.  It  is  true,  that  M.  Rufi  is  expressly  charged  with 
the  direction  of  all  these  affairs.  But  it  seems  to  us  that  you 
are  partly  to  be  blamed  for  not  having  checked  him  when  you 
had  liberty  and  power  to  do  so;  for  if  he  does  not  submit  to 
your  correction,  let  him  seek  where  he  may  erect  a  church 
apart.  We  cannot  remonstrate  gently  with  you  on  these  mat- 
ters, which  we  cannot  hear  mentioned  without  shame  and  bitter- 
ness of  heart.  Now,  though  it  is  late  to  remedy  them,  still  we 
cannot  refrain  from  entreating  you,  in  the  name  of  God,  and 
exhorting  you  as  much  as  it  depends  on  us,  to  strive  to  compen- 
sate for  past  faults,  and,  above  all,  to  put  an  end  to  all  these 
acts  of  plunder  and  robbery.  For  you  should  much  rather  quit 
these  people,  and  separate  yourselves  from  them,  than  bring 
disgrace  on  the  gospel  by  associating  with  them.  Already  there 
was  an  inconsiderate  zeal  in  devastating  as  they  have  done  the 
temples,  but  as  it  was  done  in  the  heat  of  passion,  and  from 
some  feelings  of  devotion ;  people  that  fear  God  will  not  pass  a 
very  rigorous  judgment  on  that  act.  But  of  the  plunder,  what 
can  they  say?  By  what  title  shall  it  be  lawful  to  take  away 
by  force  things  that  belong  not  to  any  private  person  ?  If  petty 
thefts  are  punishable,  it  is  a  double  crime  to  plunder  public  pro- 
perty. Wherefore,  if  you  wish  not  to  be  hated  and  detested 
by  all  men,  take  measures  to  repair  such  offences.  For  if  you 
delay  any  longer,  we  are  greatly  afraid  that  you  will  set  about 
it  too  late.  Wherefore,  we  w^ill  pray  God  to  guide  you  by  a 
spirit  of  prudence,  direct  you  in  all  equity  and  uprightness, 
fortify  you  with  constancy  and  virtue,  that  the  pains  which 

'  See  the  following  letter. 


272  THE    BARON    DES   ADRETS.  [1562. 

you  take  may  not  be  useless,  but  that  your  doctrine  may  fruc- 
tify and  his  name  be  glorified. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.] 


DCXXX. — To  THE  Baron  des  Adrets.' 

He  exhorts  him  to  repress  severely  the  disorders  of  those  of  his  party  at  Lyons. 

Geneva,  IZth  3Iay,  1562. 

Monsieur  : — We  know  very  well  that  God,  to  curb  our  self- 
sufficiency,  always  tempers  the  joys  which  he  allots  us  with  some 
admixture  of  disappointments,  and  yet  we  were  not  greatly  as- 
toniwshed  to  learn  that  people  had  overstepped  the  bounds  of 
moderation  in  the  change  which  took  place  at  Lyons.  And 
though  it  grieved  us  that  they  had  allowed  themselves  too  much 
license  in  some  respects,  still  we  supported  that  without  break- 
ing silence.  But  since  your  arrival  there  to  take  the  direction 
of  aflfairs,  it  is  high  time  for  them  to  moderate  their  impetuosity, 
and  what  is  more  that  some  order  should  be  established  instead 
of  this  confusion.  We  doubt  not  but  you  have  laboured  as  much 
as  possible  to  that  end.  As  the  charge,  however,  is  heavy  and 
difficult,  we  easily  imagine  that  you  cannot  remedy  all  the  evils 
which  displease  you,  as  it  were  to  be  wished.  Most  assuredly, 
however,  you  should  make  every  possible  exertion  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  above  all  correct  one  abuse  which  is  altogether  in- 
supportable. I  allude  to  the  pretensions  of  the  soldiery  to  have 
a  right  to  plunder  the  chalices,  reliquaries,  and  other  furniture 
of  the  temples.     What  is  worse,  it  has  been  reported  that  one 

'  Francis  de  Beaumont,  Baron  des  Adrets,  one  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Pro- 
testant party,  which  he  dishonoured  by  his  cruelties  :  "  He  was,"  says  Beza,  "  one  of 
the  most  vigilant  of  men,  bold  and  successful  in  his  enterprises,  and  truly  gifted  with 
many  of  the  qualities  requisite  in  a  great  captain  ;  but  in  other  respects  extremely 
ambitious  and  cruel,  which  vices  tarnished  the  lustre  of  his  other  virtues,  and  at  last 
deprived  him  of  all  conscience  and  reputation."  Hist.  Eccl.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  224.  After 
the  taking  of  Lyons  by  the  Huguenots,  the  Baron  des  Adrets  took  possession  of  the 
government  of  this  city,  which  he  was  obliged  soon  after  to  put  into  the  hands  of  M. 
de  Loubise.  Dissatisfied  with  the  Prince  of  Conde,  he  entered  into  negotiations  with 
the  court,  became  again  a  Catholic,  and  turned  his  nrms  against  his  own  party.  He 
died  in  1586,  equally  the  object  of  the  reprobaliun  of  both  churches. 


1562.]  THE    BARON    DES   ADRETS.  273 

of  the  ministers  had  so  identified  himself  with  these  plunderers 
as  to  cause  to  be  exposed  for  sale  a  quantity  of  such  booty. 
First  of  all,  if  that  is  true,  it  will  cause  dreadful  scandal  and  make 
the  gospel  evil  spoken  of,  and  even  if  the  mouths  of  the  wicked 
should  not  be  opened  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  God,  still  it  is 
quite  unlawfvd  without  a  public  authorization  to  touch  public 
property.  And  in  fact  avc  arc  very  certain  that  the  Prince  of 
Cond(5  and  all  the  worthy  Seigneurs  that  have  embraced  our 
party,  will  not  only  disavow  but  stamp  with  infamy  such  an  act, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  calculated  to  bring  disgrace  upon  a  cause  so 
good  and  holy  in  itself,  and  render  it  odious.  We  are  thoroughly 
persuaded  that  you  will  not  sufi'er  such  extortions  and  acts  of 
violence,  and  that  without  being  greatly  solicited  you  will  be 
ready  and  inclined  to  lay  hands  on  the  authors  of  them.  But 
the  only  means  to  provide  against  this  evil  is,  we  think,  to  have 
proclaimed  about  the  public  squares  and  crossways,  that  all  those 
who  shall  have  taken  such  booty,  or  received  and  concealed  it, 
shall  have  to  bring  back  what  part  of  it  is  in  their  possession  within 
a  delay  of  eight  days,  on  pain  of  being  reputed  guilty  of  larceny, 
and  proceeded  against  as  thieves,  and  that  all  those  who  know 
any  persons  that  keep  back  or  possess  any  part  of  it,  shall  have 
to  make  a  declaration  to  that  effect,  within  the  aforesaid  term, 
on  pain  of  being  punished  as  receivers.  If  the  evil  is  not  cor- 
rected by  these  means,  at  least  we  may  be  sure  that  the  remedy 
will  not  be  without  some  good  effects ;  for  by  it  you  will  close,  as 
far  as  it  Avill  be  possible,  the  mouths  of  evil  speakers. 

We  have  made  no  difficulty.  Monsieur,  in  sending  to  you 
privily  our  opinion,  and  in  praying  and  exhorting  you  in  the 
name  of  God  to  bestir  yourself  and  act  vigorously  as  the  case 
deserves.  Whereupon,  Monsieur,  having  affectionately  com- 
mended ourselves  to  your  indulgent  favour,  we  will  supplicate 
our  heavenly  Father  to  keep  you  under  his  protection,  fortify 
yon  by  his  power,  and  increase  you  in  all  good. 

\Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Pans,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.1 
35 


274  MONSIEUR   DE    DIESBACH.  [1562. 


DCXXXI. — To  Monsieur  de  Diesbach.' 

He  urges  him  to  send  succour  to  the  Reformed  who  were  besieged  in  Lyons. 

Geneva,  IZth  June,  1562. 

Most  honoured  Seigneur  : — As  I  have  this  very  day  re- 
ceived a  pressing  charge  from  Lyons  to  solicit  the  speedy  dis- 
patch of  the  succours,  I  have  prayed  the  present  nobleman, 
bearer  of  this  letter,  to  take  horse  immediately,  that  the  troops, 
if  it  be  possible,  may  straightway  begin  their  march;  for  as  the 
town  of  Lyons  is  quite  unprovided  with  troops,  the  enemy  will 
be  emboldened  to  throw  themselves  into  it.  Thus  we  must  an- 
ticipate them  in  time.  Add  to  this,  that  there  is  danger,  lest 
the  passages  of  Savoy  be  intercepted,  for  we  have  discovered, 
notwithstanding  his  fine  protestations,  that  his  highness'^  intends 
to  join  our  enemies.  Wherefore  I  pray,  that  conformably  to  the 
affection  you  bear  us,  you  would  furnish  the  bearer  with  all  ne- 
cessary directions,  and  give  him  advice  respecting  what  he  shall 
have  to  do. 

Whereupon,  most  honoured  Seigneur,  having  humbly  com- 
mended myself  to  your  indulgent  favour,  I  will  pray  our 
heavenly  Father  to  have  you  in  his  keeping  and  increase  you  in 
all  good  and  prosperity. 

Your  servant  and  humble  brother, 

John  Calvin. 

[Fr.  original. — Archives  of  Berne.] 

'  On  the  back :  To  the  most  honoured  Seigneur  Monsieur  de  Diesbach,  Bailiff  of 
Lausanne. 

Threatened  by  the  united  forces  of  the  Catholic  armies  of  Burgundy  and  Dauphine, 
under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  the  Protestants  of  Lyons  invoked  the 
succour  of  the  Reformed  Cantons  of  Switzerland.  The  bookseller  Jean  Frellon,  their 
deputy,  obtained  for  them  eight  companies  from  Berne,  four  from  the  Valais,  three 
from  Neuchatel,  on  condition  that  these  troops  should  be  inscribed  for  the  service  of 
the  king  and  destined  for  the  protection  of  Lyons.  De  Thou,  lib.  xx.\i.  Calvin 
actively  urged  the  sending  off  of  these  auxiliaries. 

»  The  Duke  Emmanuel  Philibert. 


1562.]  BULLINGER.  275 


DCXXXII.— To   BULLINGER.i 

An  appeal  addressed  to  the  Seigneurs  of  Berne  in  favour  of  the  French  Protestants — 
Succours  from  England  and  Germany — Juridical  massacres  at  Toulouse — Prelimi- 
naries of  the  civil  war. 

Geneva,  I5th  August,  1562. 

It  is  not  from  negligence,  believe  me,  venerable  brother,  that 
I  write  to  you  so  seldom,  but  because  I  see  things  ever  and 
anon  changing.  Shame,  to  a  certain  extent,  makes  me  lazy, 
for  fear  I  should  afterwards  be  obliged  to  retract  what  I  have 
written.  At  last,  the  Bernese  have  been  prevailed  on  to  make 
preparations  for  recovering  the  cities  of  Burgundy.  Their  pro- 
gress, however,  is  slow,  and  we  are  afraid  that  the  whole  expe- 
dition will  shortly  come  to  nought,  because  the  senate  has  replied 
too  timidly  and  too  servilely  to  Mendoza.  They  always  insist 
with  puerile  chicanery  that  they  only  came  to  garrison  the  city, 
as  if,  forsooth,  there  had  not  been  quite  men  enough  to  eat  up 
the  provisions  without  them.  If  Chatillon  be  captured,  and  a 
strong  garrison  placed  in  it,  the  navigation  of  the  Soane  will  be 
secured,  which  supplies  a  copious  abundance  of  many  kinds  of 
provisions.  This  will  be  the  true  defence  of  the  city.  But 
something  else  is  required  which,  if  that  district  be  pacified, 
can  easily  be  accomplished  ;  it  is  that  they  should  march  straight 
to  join  the  prince.  But  they  obstinately  refuse  to  do  that,  nor 
can  the  senate  be  induced  to  permit  it.     For  what  purpose,  then, 

'  Active  negotiations  were  entered  upon  to  determine  the  Protestant  cantons  of 
Swisserland  to  interfere  in  favour  of  their  fellow  Protestants  of  France  in  the  strug- 
gle that  had  already  commenced.  Beza,  associated  in  all  the  trials  of  the  churches 
which  he  had  supported  by  his  eloquence  nt  Poissy,  had  repaired  to  Bale,  in  order  to 
act  at  the  same  time  on  the  German  courts  and  the  Helvetic  councils.  In  a  letter  of 
the  loth  of  September,  ho  transmitted  to  Calvin  useful  information  respecting  the 
results  of  the  negotiations,  of  which  the  object  was  to  unite  in  one  common  cause  all 
the  Protestant  forces.  He  announced  the  arrival  of  D'Andelot  with  eight  thousand 
German  Lansquenets,  and  expressed  his  wishes  that  Swisserland  should  contribute 
not  less  efficaciously  for  the  defence  of  the  Evangelical  cause.  "  Oh  if  some  universal 
league  could  be  concluded  among  us  !  Nor  do  I  doubt  but  that  will  take  place.  But 
the  consternation  of  men  is  incredible.  Whatever  may  be  the  issue,  however,  of 
these  times,  our  redemption  is  at  hand,  which  thing  alone  consoles  me." — (Librart/ 
nf  Geneva,  vol.  117.) 


276  BULLINGER.  [1562. 

did  they  need  to  bring  out  troops?  The  prince  himself  lately 
sent  word  that  he  was  again  assembling  his  dispersed  forces, 
and  that  in  a  short  time  he  would  have  a  powerful  army.  The 
enemy  has  been  greatly  terrified  by  the  arrival  of  the  English, 
who  have  pitched  their  camp  in  the  heart  of  Normandy,  and  in 
a  short  time  the  Scots  will  join  them.  For  that  reason,  the 
queen,  again  having  recourse  to  her  intrigues,  is  covertly  sending 
envoys  to  treat  about  a  peace.  For  which  cause,  however,  the 
Admiral  bids  us  not  to  be  alarmed.  The  auxiliaries  which  we 
expected  from  Germany,  unless  I  am  mistaken,  will  be  no  more 
heard  of,  because  they  had  never  touched  any  money.  Our 
senate  has  enjoined  Bud^  to  procure  a  loan  of  twelve  thousand 
gold  crowns,  either  at  Bale  or  Strasbourg.  If  all  had  good- 
will in  proportion  to  their  means,  we  should  not  be  thus  desti- 
tute. God  is  then  to  be  entreated  that  he  may  provide  for  us 
from  some  other  quarter.  The  Queen  of  Navarre  is  furnished 
with  a  small  army  which  will  be  sufficient  for  keeping  in  check 
a  part  of  Guienne,  but  unless  it  be  reinforced  by  new  auxilia- 
ries, it  is  not  strong  enough  to  fall  upon  the  enemy,  a  thing 
much  to  be  desired,  however,  in  order  that  it  might  render  use- 
ful service  to  the  public  cause.  It  is  also  much  to  be  lamented 
that  it  has  not  yet  been  possible  to  repress  the  cruelty  of  the 
senate  of  Toulouse,  which  has  put  to  death,  by  the  hand  of  the 
executioner,  upwards  of  thirty  individuals,  wealthy  and  honour- 
able, noble,  also,  and  who  had  discharged  public  functions.  If 
you  perceive  that  your  authority  can  have  any  influence  in  de- 
ciding the  senate  of  Berne  to  permit  their  troops  to  join  the 
prince,  I  entreat  you  to  strain  every  nerve  for  that  purpose, 
because  if  the  war  is  protracted  any  longer,  we  are  completely 
ruined,  as  well  as  the  kingdom.  Would  they  had  never  left 
home  !  but  in  your  wisdom  you  must  conclude  how  much  it 
concerns  the  fame  of  the  war  that  they  should  not  depart ;  nay, 
if  the  afiair  is  to  be  decided  by  a  battle,  that  they  should  be  sta- 
tioned at  no  great  distance  from  the  German  fusileers,  whom  the 
enemy  has  engaged  as  mercenaries.  One  company  has  deserted 
to  our  side  ;  others  have  promised  that  they  will  not  engage 
with  us.  The  favourable  disposition  of  the  French  cavalry,  to- 
wards us,  also,  makes  the  party  of  the  Guises  very  uneasy.     The 


1562.]  BULLINQER.  277 

King  of  Navarre  has  been  sent  to  draw  the  king  into  the  camp, 
in  order  that  the  Swiss  and  the  other  foreign  troops,  as  well  as 
the  French  who  profess  to  be  devoted  to  the  king  alone,  may  no 
longer  decline  the  service.  This  compact,  however,  will  turn 
out,  I  hope,  to  be  a  fable.  A  whole  month  has  now  elapsed 
since  Beza  ought  to  have  been  among  us.  But  from  the  time 
when  he  arrived  in  safety  in  Champaigne,  along  with  his  com- 
panion, Porcien,  we  have  not  heard  the  slightest  rumour  respect- 
ing what  quarter  of  the  world  he  may  be  in ;  because  I  am  un- 
willing to  augur  any  misfortune,  I  conjecture  that  he  has  been 
detained  in  that  pwovince  where  at  present  grave  commotions 
are  reigning.  As  soon  as  any  thing  certain  and  worthy  of  be- 
ing known  shall  have  transpired,  I  will  compensate,  by  my  dili- 
gence in  writing  to  you,  for  my  fifteen  days'  silence. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  honoured  brother,  along 
with  M.  Peter  Martyr,  Gualter,  and  all  your  colleagues.  May 
the  Lord  preserve  you  all  in  safety,  and  crown  your  labours 
with  a  happy  success. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

YLat.  Oing.,  in  Calvin's  handwriting. — Library  of  2ki,rich,  Hottinger^ 
F.  80,  p.  343.] 


DCXXXIII.— To   BULLINGER. 
A  petition  in  favour  of  a  prisoner  of  the  inquisition  at  Milan. 

Geneva,  9lh  Scptemler,  1562. 

I  am  obliged,  at  the  request  of  those  who  do  not  comply  with 
my  advice,  to  be  troublesome  to  you,  venerable  brother.  A 
worthy  man  has  been  thrown  into  prison  at  Milan,  because  he 
had  expressed  himself  rather  too  freely  against  the  Papistical 
impiety.  He  is,  indeed,  a  native  of  Burgundy,  but  has  long 
been  settled  in  our  city,  and  has  been  to  Italy  on  business. 
Our  senate  would  have  been  ready  to  intercede  for  him,  but 
forbore  because  their  letter  would  only  have  been  turned  into 
ridicule.  I  gave  an  advice  which  his  friends  rejected,  for  they 
imagined  if  four  Swiss  cantons  that  profess  the  pure  doctrine 


278  THE  CHURCHES  OF  LANGUEDOC.        [1562. 

of  the  gospel  should  intercede  for  him,  the  Milanese  would 
scarcely  venture  to  attempt  any  thing  against  him.  And  yet  I 
am  afraid  lest  your  authority  also  may  be  slight,  and  of  small 
weight  in  this  affair ;  nevertheless  because  the  cause  itself  de- 
serves no  common  recommendation  I  entreat  you  again  and 
again  to  aid  our  initiative,  by  procuring  letters  with  what  fidel- 
ity and  diligence  you  can. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  honoured  brother.  May 
the  Lord  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  sustain  you  by  his  power, 
and  preserve  you  in  safety. 

Yours,        «   John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Orig. — Arch,  of  Zurich,  Gest.  II.  166,  p.  52.] 


DCXXXIV. — To  THE  Churches  of  Languedoc' 

A  collection  for  the  benefit  of  the  German  soldiers  enrolled  under  the  banner  of  the 
Reformed  churches. 

Geneva,  September,  1562. 

Messieurs: — Very  dear  and  honoured  brethren,  I  should 
wish  indeed  to  transport  myself  among  you  to  make  you  under- 
stand with  what  disposition  of  mind  I  write  the  present.  But 
since  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  do  this,  I  trust  that  the  thing  it- 
self being  properly  understood  by  you  will  suflSce  to  touch  your 

'Without  a  date.     The  end  is  wanting.     September,  1562. 

The  massacre  of  Vassy  gave  the  signal  for  the  civil  war.  While  the  Prince  of  Conde, 
fortified  in  Orleans,  addressed  an  appeal  for  men  and  money  to  the  Reformed  churches 
of  the  kingdom,  d'Andelot  went  to  solicit  the  support  of  the  Protestant  princes  of 
Germany,  and  brought  back  a  body  of  6,000  reitres  or  lansquenets,  with  which  he 
marched  towards  the  frontier  of  Lorraine.  He  wrote  on  the  26th  August,  1562,  to 
Calvin:  "It  is  a  thing  of  which  we  must  not  become  tired,  but  for  which  we  should 
always  be  importunate,  I  mean  the  research  of  every  means  of  procuring  money,  for 
it  is  of  that  we  stand  excessively  in  need,  having,  thank  God,  found  so  much  favour  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Rhine,  among  the  princes,  that  I  hope  to  lead  with  me  3000 
horse,  and  as  many  lansquenets.  And  if  I  now  see  them  all  disposed  to  do  their  ut- 
most for  us,  I  was  a  long  time  before  I  brought  them  to  favour  my  views  at  all,  and 
had  almost  begun  to  despair.  I  trust  that  our  gracious  God  still  wills  to  make  use 
of  human  means  to  favour  his  church."  Coll.  de  M.  Tronchin  il  Geneve.  Calvin 
addressing  himself  to  the  churches  exhorted  them  to  provide  liberally  for  the  expenses 
of  the  war  provoked  by  the  violation  of  the  Edict  of  January. 


1662.]  THE   CHURCHES   OF   LANGUEDOC.  279 

hearts  to  devote  yourselves  to  the  good  cause  without  reserve, 
each  one  according  to  his  means.  The  point  in  question  is  to 
find  money  to  support  the  troops  which  M.  d'Andelot  has 
levied.  This  is  not  the  moment  to  enter  into  inquiries  or  dis- 
putes, in  order  to  find  fault  with  mistakes  that  have  been  com- 
mitted in  times  past.  For  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause 
of  these,  God  has  reduced  us  to  such  an  extremity  that  if  you 
are  not  succoured  from  that  quarter,  we  can  expect  nothing,  ac- 
cording to  human  probability,  but  a  pitiful  and  horrible  desola- 
tion. I  know  very  well  that  though  all  should  be  ruined  and 
lost,  God  has  incomprehensible  means  of  re-establishing  his 
church  as  if  he  raised  it  from  the  dead,  and  it  is  that  trust  in 
which  we  must  repose  and  patiently  wait — that  should  we  be 
abolished,  even  at  the  worst  he  knows  how  to  create  out  of  our 
ashes  a  new  people.  Nevertheless  we  have  good  reason  to 
think,  if  we  would  not  designedly  shut  the  door  against  his 
grace — not  to  be  negligent  in  discharging  the  duties  which  fall 
to  our  own  share.  It  is  certain  that  dilatoriness  and  indiffer- 
ence, or  rather  the  niggardliness  of  the  churches  has  occasioned 
us  greater  detriment  than  it  is  possible  to  express.  Several  who 
have  spared  a  part  of  their  goods  have  been  doomed  to  lose  them 
all.  What  is  worse,  there  is  an  infinite  number  of  poor  people 
who  have  answered  for  them  with  their  lives,  though  it  was  not 
their  fault.  If  this  evil  continue,  it  is  much  to  be  feared  that 
God  will  bring  a  greater  number  of  rods  to  scourge  us,  and  in 
fact  it  is  a  great  shame  that  the  enemies  of  God  consume  body 
and  substance  for  a  miserable  quarrel  to  the  perdition  of  their 
souls,  and  that  those  who  should  maintain  the  truth  should  be 
so  stingy  and  close  fisted.  But  it  is  a  double  shame  that  the 
necessity.  .  .  . 

\Fr.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


280  suLCER.  [1562. 


DCXXXV.— To  SuLCER.i 

Political  and  military  news  of  France — Catherine  de  Medicis — The  Emperor  Ferdinand 
— The  Turks — The  Queen  of  England — Complaints  against  Peter  Toussain. 

Geneva,  &th  December,  1562. 

If  I  write  to  you  less  frequently  than  you  might  desire,  you 
"will  be  indulgent  to  my  indolence,  most  excellent  sir  and  vener- 
able brother,  for  I  am  so  weighed  down  by  grief  as  to  be  slug- 
gish in  the  performance  of  every  duty,  except  when  urged  and 
dragged  to  it,  as  it  were,  contrary  to  my  inclinations  ;  and  also  in 
so  troubled  a  state  of  affairs  I  feel  a  reluctance  to  write  about 
matters  which  are  doubtful,  lest  to  my  shame  I  should  have  to 
retract  what  I  believed  to  be  true.  For  you  cannot  believe 
what  licence  people  take  in  publishing  lies.  Wherefore  from 
suffering  from  ennui,  I  have  contracted  such  a  habit  of  callous- 
ness that  no  reports  affect  me.  Besides  the  roads  have  been 
so  blocked  up  for  six  months  that  nothing  certain  reaches  us. 
To-day  we  are  ignorant  of  what  our  princes  are  doing,  unless 
that  about  the  end  of  the  first  month  they  were  still  at  Corbeil. 
This  is  a  small  and  poorly  fortified  town,  about  four  hours'  march 
distant  from  Paris.  The  advantages  of  the  position  of  this  place 
had  induced  the  enemy  to  strive  by  every  means  to  keep  pos- 
session of  it,  because  in  consequence  of  its  bridge  the  passage 
of  provisions  conveyed  from  Burgundy  can  easily  be  intercepted. 
St.  Andrd  had  therefore  occupied  that  post  with  a  strong 
garrison,  but  he  deserted  it  before  the  storming  of  it.  The 
queen  had  again  recurred  to  her  Avonted  arts  of  pacification,  but 
the  enemies  will  be  too  stupid  if,  after  having  been  so  often  de- 
ceived by  her  treacherous  caresses,  they  should  again  expose 
themselves  to  her  snares.  Their  deputies  were  courteously 
received  by  the  emperor,  by  his  son,  and  by  the  Electors,  but 
have  not  had  an  answer  given  them.  What  has  been  circulated 
among  you  respecting  the  Turk  is,  I  suspect,  a  vain  rumour,  for 
certainly  a  word  would  have  been  dropped  about  it  in  his  letter, 
by  the  one  of  the  deputies  to  whom  your  princes  disclose 
familiarly  whatever  it  is  our  interest  to  be  made  acquainted 


1562.]  SULCER.  281 

with.  The  Queen  of  England  has  boasted  too  greatly  of  the 
aid  afforded  by  her.  It  is  by  her  vanity  that  we  have  lost 
llouen.  The  Duke  of  Nemours  had  concluded  an  armistice 
with  the  Baron  des  Adrets,  which  has  now  expired.  Because 
the  Prefect  of  Lyons  was  ill,  he  asked  for  an  interview  with  him 
which  was  refused.  There  is  tranquillity  at  Lyons,  but  a  penury 
of  money.  The  Danes  had  already  learned  from  others  they 
would  not  find  a  convenient  retreat  among  us.  When  they  said 
then  that  they  would  return  on  the  following  day,  there  was  no 
need  of  making  a  lengthened  apology,  and  certainly  our  city 
was  never  at  any  previous  period  so  crowded  with  wretched 
exiles.  They  flock  hither  in  bands  stripped  of  all  their  fortune, 
many  of  them  orphans,  many  widows.  In  these  straitened  cir- 
cumstances in  which  we  are  placed,  it  is  not  an  easy  thing  for 
men  unacquainted  with  our  language  to  find  a  position.  But 
before  they  had  spoken  a  word,  they  had  resolved  to  remain  at 
Bale  till  Easter.     I  pass  now  to  another  subject. 

Though  often  reminded  of  the  atrocious  perfidy  and  cruelty 
of  Peter  Toussain,'  you  preferred  to  suspend  your  judgment 
rather  than  give  up  an  opinion  you  had  once  conceived  of  him. 
And  that  crocodile  maintains  his  influence  by  his  fawning  man- 
ners, so  well  calculated  to  deceive.  Now  having  attacked  his 
colleague  by  fresh  acts  of  treachery,  he  has  succeeded  in  having 
him  ordered  to  be  suspended  from  his  functions  for  a  season.  I 
am  unwilling  to  enter  on  a  long  discussion  on  a  subject  that  is 
quite  manifest.  The  point  in  question  is  the  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination, respecting  which  he  wished  the  worthy  man  to 
abjure  his  sentiments.  Need  I  recommend  to  you  the  cause  of 
Christ  ?  Lest,  however,  you  should  suspect  that  something  had 
escaped  him  which  might  cause  oflence,  you  will  see  from  the 
whole  course  of  the  proceedings  that  he  was  only  too  modest 
when  attacked  by  that  enemy  of  all  godly  men.  It  is  very  far 
from  being  becoming  that  a  learned  and  pious  man  should  be 
unworthily  molested,  while  we  stand  by  and  wink  at  it.  But  as 
I  have  no  means  of  aiding  him,  I  implore  your  faithful  assistance; 
you  enjoy  a  very  rare  degree  of  influence  with  Balius  and  the 
Prefect.     Now   though  Toussain    has  fascinated    them   by  his 

'  Seo  vol.  iii.  p.  477. 

36 


282  BULLINGER.  [1562. 

cunning  pretences,  it  will  not  be  a  matter  of  great  difficulty  for 
you  after  all  to  bring  them  back  to  tbe  right  path.  I  do  not 
■wish  you  to  be  mixed  up  with  an  obscure  quarrel.  I  have  ex- 
horted the  brother  that  he  should  lay  his  whole  case  before  you. 
Having  duly  examined  the  whole  matter,  you  will  decide  ac- 
cording to  your  equity  and  prudence  what  is  fitting  to  be  done. 
This  at  least  I  desire  to  obtain  from  you  that  you  will  endeavour 
to  mollify  the  Prefect,  though  I  am  confident  that  you  will  have 
still  greater  success,  and  that  a  man  otherwise  of  intrepi'd  char- 
acter will  voluntarily  undertake  the  defence  of  a  just  and  pious 
cause.  If  then  you  set  to  work  seriously,  we  have  no  doubts 
about  the  successful  issue. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  and  respected  brother.  We  have 
a  new  subject  for  sorrow  in  the  death  of  Peter  Martyr.  Our 
brother  Beza  is  still  in  the  camp.  Ribitt^  went  to  Orleans 
about  six  months  ago,  being  called  thither  to  discharge  the 
functions  of  a  teacher.  May  the  Lord  preserve  you  in  safety, 
and  enrich  you  more  and  more  with  his  gifts.  My  colleagues 
very  respectfully  salute  you. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCXXXVI.— To   BULLINGER.' 

First  religious  war — Respective  force  of  the  two  parties — Siege  of  Lyons — The  Duke  of 
Nemours — Des  Adrets — News  of  Germany,  and  the  Council  of  Trent. 

Geneva,  21th  December,  1562. 

Although  I  dislike  to  write  to  you  respecting  things  that  are 
but  uncertain,  venerable  brother,  yet  as  this  excellent  young 

'  This  letter  is  but  the  abstract  of  several  letters  addressed  by  Beza  to  Calvin.  In 
it  we  see  negotiations  continually  mixed  up  with  hostilities  during  this  first  period 
of  the  civil  war.  Before  coming  to  action,  and  inflicting  on  each  other  decisive  blows, 
the  parties  seem  to  shrink  from  the  terrible  extremity  to  which  they  are  henceforth 
reduced.  A  witness  of  these  vicissitudes,  Beza  deplores  them,  as  he  sees  the  Protes- 
tant army  allowing  to  escape  more  than  one  occasion  of  gaining  a  signal  advantage 
over  the  Catholic  enemy,  and  he  bewails  the  painful  necessities  which  detain  him  in 
France  without  his  being  able  to  exercise  a  decisive  influence  over  events.     "  Would 


1562.]  BULLINGER.  283 

man  offered  me  his  services  to  convey  a  letter  to  you,  I  was 
unwilling  not  to  profit  by  the  opportunity.  What  the  Prince 
of  Condd  is  meditating  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  conjecture. 
About  the  beginning  of  this  month,  he  had  advanced  his  troops 
to  the  walls  of  Paris,  and  had  almost  reduced  the  city  by  famine 
after  a  blockade  of  fifteen  days.  The  soldiers  of  Guise  had 
made  a  sally,  but  being  vigorously  repulsed  they  then  remained 
quiet  behind  their  ramparts.  Afterwards  the  queen  had  re- 
course to  her  usual  intrigues,  and  the  prince,  with  his  indolent 
good  nature,  lost  much  time  in  deceitful  conferences  which  he 
had  better  have  employed  in  vigorous  action.  The  common  opi- 
nion was,  that  the  preliminaries  of  a  peace  had  been  settled,  when, 
contrary  to  expectation,  Spanish  and  Breton  troops  came  to  the 
help  of  the  enemy  by  which  his  activity  was  immediately  in- 
creased. The  prince  withdrew  his  army  to  a  greater  distance. 
The  soldiers  of  Guise  went  after  him.  On  the  fifteenth  of  this 
month,  both  parties  had  their  camps  in  the  Beauce,  between 
the  territory  of  the  Chartrain  and  Maine.  Letters  were  brought 
from  Paris,  and  their  contents  were  confirmed  by  certain  proofs 
that  the  two  armies  had  engaged  in  a  trifling  skirmish,  and  that 
seven  hundred  of  the  Spaniards  had  fallen.  The  news  is  not 
improbable,  since  a  great  many  wounded  had  been  conveyed  to 
the  city  on  carts  and  wagons.  The  enemy  is  stronger  in  infan- 
try, the  prince  much  superior  in  cavalry.  The  report  that  had 
reached  us  of  the  recovery  of  Rouen  is  now  found  to  be  false, 
and  yet  I  fancy  there  must  have  been  some  foundation  for  it. 
Something  which  ought  to  have  been  kept  a  secret  was  blabbed 
out  before  the  time  by  some  babblers,  and  got  too  wide  a  circu- 
lation. If,  however,  it  is  true,  and  I  have  good  reasons  for  be- 
lieving it,  that  six  thousand  English  have  joined  the  prince,  this 
will  be  no  contemptible  reinforcement.  Assuredly,  if  he  did 
not  advance  to  meet  these  troops  that  he  might  animate  still 
more  their  resolution,  we  should  have  to  pronounce  his  retro- 
grade movement  an  act  of  base  cowardice.  The  Parisians 
themselves  are  rushing  on  more  furiously  than  ever.     Private 

that  God  would  avert  the  things  I  fear.  Nothing  is  more  wretched  than  I  who  caQ 
neither  stay  here  with  any  great  advantage,  nor  yet  absent  myself.  But  God  is  with 
mo."— Letter  of  the  Mth  December,  16C2.     (Vol.  de  Geneve,  117.) 


284  BULLiNaER.  [1562. 

individuals  are  in  the  habit  of  obtaining  as  a  boon  from  their 
sovereigns  a  dispensation  of  the  legal  age,  and  thus  advancing 
the  period  when  they  have  a  right  to  administer  their  own  affairs. 
The  Parliament  has  granted  the  king  this  dispensation,  and  de- 
clared his  majority  as  it  is  called.  In  the  mean  time,  as  if  he 
were  still  in  his  nonage,  they  have  appointed  him  guardians.  The 
conseillers  who  refused  to  condemn  the  Admiral  and  his  brother 
D'Andelot  have  been  thrown  into  prison.  These  are  tokens  of 
a  most  desperate  state.  Against  Lyons,  the  Duke  of  Nemours 
as  yet  attempts  nothing  by  force  of  arms,  because  he  hopes 
that  he  will  be  able  to  reduce  it  gradually  by  famine.  The 
Baron  des  Adrets,  who  had  hitherto  acted  with  energy,  allured 
by  his  wheedling  promises,  had  allowed  him  to  be  made  governor. 
But  yielding  to  the  unanimous  wishes  of  the  nobility  and  the 
states,  he  desisted  from  his  purpose.  If  Vienne,  as  we  trust, 
will  soon  be  recovered,  the  province  of  Languedoc,  which  at 
present  abounds  in  wheat  and  wine,  will  supply  a  plentiful 
stock  of  provisions.  A  troop  of  horsemen,  dispatched  by  the 
prince,  which  was  advancing  to  Lyons,  has  been  intercepted. 
We  now  entertain  great  hopes  of  the  Baron  des  Adrets,  and  he 
has  pledged  himself  to  listen  to  good  and  salutary  counsels. 
Assuredly,  it  was  not  from  treachery,  but  error  and  foolish 
credulity  that  he  compromised  himself.  If  Crussol,  whom  the 
cities  of  Languedoc  have  created  their  governor,  take  up  the 
matter  seriously,  the  Lyonese  will  be  out  of  danger.  I  am 
afraid  that  the  Comte  of  Beauvais,  formerly  Cardinal  de  Cha- 
tillon,  is  too  dilatory,  and  will  with  his  hesitations  be  a  drag 
upon  his  movements.  Sulcer  had  written  the  same  thing  that 
you  did  respecting  the  Turkish  embassy,  but  it  was  a  false  re- 
port. Our  Frankfort  friend,  M.  de  Passy,  formerly  Bishop  of 
Nevers,  was  the  deputy  of  the  Prince  de  Conde  to  the  emperor 
and  the  princes.  As  he  had  not  mentioned  the  circumstance 
to  me,  I  fancied  it  was  an  idle  report.  But  now  that  he  has 
arrived,  he  assures  us  that  it  was  true.  He  declared  that  he 
was  very  graciously  received  by  the  emperor,  who  expressed  to 
him  his  sorrow  at  the  dissensions  in  France,  especially  because 
the  enemies  were  plotting  the  destruction  of  pure  religion.  I 
suppose  the  news  has  reached  you  of  the  change  in  the  form  of 


1562.]  BULLINGER.  285 

taking  an  oath,  for  he  promised  that  he  would  be  the  defender 
not  of  the  Roman  but  of  tlie  Cliristian  church,  and  ho  omitted 
the  mention  of  the  saints,  contenting  himself  with  employing  the 
name  of  God.  alone.  You  will  perceive  from  his  speech  what 
kind  of  part  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  has  played  in  the  Council 
of  Trent.  With  him  chimed  in  that  famous  apostate  the  legate 
of  the  king.  Though  the  copies  of  their  speeches  are  incorrect, 
you  will  nevertheless  easily  perceive  how  embarrassed  they  are, 
and  that  they  cannot  muster  any  other  army,  except  there  be 
the  free  exercise  of  religion  in  France.  I  remit  copies  of  the 
letters  which  I  had  written  to  the  Poles,  because  the  second 
answer  in  which  I  had  explained  the  question  at  considerable 
length  miscarried,  I  dispense  with  handling  that  cause.  I  sus- 
pect it  was  lost  by  the  negligence  or  forgetfulness  of  Beza.  I 
am  very  desirous  to  hear  more  favourable  accounts  of  your 
health.  God  has  put  fetters  on  my  feet.  The  acute  pains 
have  ceased,  however,  but  it  is  with  great  difficulty  I  can  hobble 
in  my  room  from  my  bed  to  the  table.  I  preached  to-day,  but 
I  was  carried  to  the  church. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  respected  brother ;  I  beg 
you  will  salute  your  fellow  pastors  and  brethren.  My  colleagues 
and  friends  all  salute  you  ;  among  others,  the  amanuensis,  whose 
hand  you  recognize.  May  the  Lord  keep  you  in  safety,  sus- 
tain you  by  his  power,  and  bless  your  labours. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

You  wished  me  to  engage  with  Brentz,  but  up  to  this  mo- 
ment it  has  been  out  of  my  power ;  to  such  a  degree  have  I 
been  pressed  by  other  lucubrations.  If  I  can  procure  a  little 
more  leisure,  an  excellent  opportunity  has  now  presented  itself, 
because  the  ministers  who  are  in  the  dominions  of  the  courts 
of  Mansfeld  have  exhorted  in  a  stupid  pamphlet  to  repentance 
the  French  whom  they  acknowledge  and  style  their  brethren. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


286  BULLINGER.  [1563. 


DCXXXVII.— To   BULLINGER.l 

Battle  of  Dreux — Captivity  of  Cond6 — Imposing  attitude  of  Coligny — Theodore  Beza 
at  Orleans — Mission  of  the  Cardinal  de  Lorraine  to  Germany — False  news  from 
France. 

Geneva,  16th  January,  1663. 

At  last,  we  have  received  a  letter  from  the  Admiral,  giving 
us  details  of  the  battle  and  its  results.'^  The  prince  had  led 
out  his  troops,  that  he  might  compel  the  enemy  to  quit  the  camp. 
If  the  infantry  had  done  their  duty,  there  is  no  doubt  that  im- 
mediately without  much  difficulty,  and  almost  without  any  loss, 
they  would  have  gained  a  victory.  The  cowardice  of  the  infan- 
try, which  some  suspect  to  have  been  treachery,  retarded  the 
success.  When  the  prince  saw  them  basely  hanging  back,  he 
dashed  through  their  ranks,  that  shame,  at  least,  might  compel 
them  to  fight.  In  that  course,  his  horse  was  wounded  in  the 
shoulder,  hence  it  was  that  the  enemy  who  was  at  no  great  dis- 
tance got  possession  of  his  person,  as  it  was  impossible  for  him 
to  procure  a  fresh  horse  in  time.  Already  the  constable  had 
been  made  prisoner,  the  Marshal  de  St.  Andrd  slain,  one  of  the 
sons  of  the  constable,  the  Duke  of  Nevers,  had  received  a 
mortal  wound.  A  brother  of  Guise,  called  the  grand  prior, 
was  dangerously  wounded.  Of  the  principal  officers,  about 
twenty  had  fallen,  of  whom  three  knights  of  the  ordre  Royal. 
Not  a  few  of  the  nobility  of  the  highest  class  have  been  made 
prisoners,  who  are  now  kept  in  close  custody.  The  German 
troopers  conducted  themselves  courageously,  as  became  brave 

'  On  the  19th  of  December  was  fought  the  battle  of  Dreux.  During  more  than 
two  hours,  the  armies  contemplated  each  other  in  sombre  immobility.  Each  one 
.  said  to  himself,  doubtless,  that  he  had  before  him  relations,  friends,  fellow-citizens. 
At  last,  the  conflict  began,  and  eight  thousand  dead  bodies  soon  covered  the  field  of 
battle.  The  Calvinists,  at  first,  had  the  advantage,  and  the  fugitives  having  con- 
veyed the  news  of  it  to  Paris,  "  Well,  then,"  said  Catharine  of  Medicis,"  we  shall 
have  to  pray  to  God  in  French."  A  skilful  manoeuvre  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  brought 
back  the  advantage  to  the  Catholics,  and  Coligny  retreated  proudly  and  in  good 
order. 

'  What  interest  a  letter  of  the  Admiral's  and  containing  a  narrative  of  the  battle 
would  afford  us  I     This  letter  unfortunately  has  been  lost. 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  287 

soldiers.  A  like  gallantry  was  displayed  by  the  French  cavalry. 
A  terrible  carnage  took  place  in  all  the  ranks  of  the  enemies' 
army,  but  not  above  a  fifth  of  our  troops  fell.  Among  those  who 
have  been  taken,  there  is  none  except  the  Prince  about  whom  we 
feel  very  anxious,  and  another  named  De  Mouy,  a  cornet  of 
cavalry.  As  night  fell,  both  armies  betook  themselves  to  their 
camps.  Among  the  enemies  there  was  the  greatest  trepidation. 
Our  troops  were  so  animated  with  confidence  that  on  the  follow- 
ing day  they  did  not  hesitate  to  attack  the  enemy.  The  Duke 
of  Guise  kept  his  men  within  their  entrenchments.  The  Ad- 
miral contented  himself  with  letting  them  see  that  specimen  of 
the  spirit  of  his  troops.  The  Prince  of  Cond^  is  detained  a 
close  prisoner  in  a  fortress  situated  between  the  Chartain  and 
Dreux.  The  queen  has  set  out  for  Chartres.  The  king  fol- 
lowed a  short  time  afterwai'ds.  No  doubt  the  prince  had  been 
already  conveyed  thither.  What  the  result  of  the  conference 
was  is  unknown,  except  that  fears  are  to  be  entertained  of  his 
too  great  propensity  to  the  vain  hope  of  a  pacification,  the  dis- 
position of  mind  which  has  hitherto  been  the  cause  of  all  our 
misfortunes ;  for  unworthily  betrayed  three  or  four  times  he  could 
never  be  induced  to  take  precautions  against  treachery.  Ne- 
vertheless, he  courageously  made  head  against  his  keepers,  so 
that  one  would  say  he  had  assumed  a  manly  character  since 
the  day  of  the  battle.  He  alleges  to  them  the  edict  which,  in 
the  king's  name,  the  enemies  had  promulgated  in  the  month  of 
July,  and  in  which  it  is  declared  that  the  war  had  been  under- 
taken, in  order  to  set  him  at  liberty.  He  denies,  then,  that 
consistently  with  justice  he  should  now  be  held  to  be  a  captive. 
He  adds,  too,  that  as  he  had  been  created  the  king's  guardian 
by  the  suffrages  of  the  orders,  in  order  to  represent  the  person 
of  the  king,  it  was  unlawful  for  any  one  to  lay  hands  upon  him 
who  was  the  second  person  of  the  kingdom.  The  day  before 
the  engagement,  the  prince  had  named  the  Admiral  his  succes- 
sor. All  the  troops  again  took  the  oath  of  obedience  to  him. 
Of  the  infantry,  he  reassembled  no  contemptible  number.  A 
thousand  Lansquenets,  or  thereabouts,  returned  to  their  own 
country.  The  Reitres  remained  quite  cheerful  in  the  cause,  as 
before.     There  was  no  insubordination,  no  sign  of  desertion. 


288  EULLINGER.  [1563. 

The  general  himself  harangued  them  and  exhorted  them  to  per- 
severance, and  entertains  the  highest  hopes.     He  also  entreats 
them  not  to  lend  any  credit  to  letters  from  the  prince  until  he 
be  restored  to  liberty.     You  can  scarcely  believe  what  I  tell 
you,  and  yet  it  is  perfectly  true,  that  the  constable  was  con- 
ducted to  Orleans  by  only  twelve  men,  and  with  so  much  speed 
that  they  entered  the  city  in  a  little  more  than  twenty-four 
hours  after  the  battle,  having  accomplished  a  march  of  thirty 
French  leagues.     The  Admiral  had  resolved   on  joining  the 
English  to  the  troops  under  his  command,  and  if  circumstances 
required  it,  ho  did  not  shrink  from  another  engagement.     If  he 
chance  to  advance  towards  Lyons,  do  not  imagine  that   this 
movement  is  a  flight.     A  report  is  spread,  indeed,  that  he  is 
seeking  a  quiet  district  to  recruit  his  troops.     But  there  is  some 
deeper  design  concealed  under  this  measure,  and  assuredly  it 
is  of  great  importance  that  Lyons  should  receive  supplies  as 
speedily  as  possible  before  it  suffer  still  more  from  a  want  of 
provisions.     Add  to  this  the  defeat  of  the  Baron  des  Adrets. 
Now  if  the  Duke  de  Nemours  were  put  to  flight,  the  whole  ter- 
ritory of  Gaul  as  far  as  Guienne  would  be  cleared  of  these  rob- 
bers.    The  province  of  Languedoc  is  so  productive  of  corn  and 
wine,  that  the  roads  once  opened  up  there  is  no  danger  of  the 
Lyonese  sufiering  from    famine.       Thus   a  blockade   need  no 
longer   be   feared  in   that  quarter.      Two  thousand  horsemen 
have  come  to  their  relief,  and  these  having  brought  along  with 
them  not  a  few  companions,  this  will  be  a  strong  reinforcement. 
The  messenger  who  was  bringing  to  me  the  letter  of  our  friend 
Beza,  has  either  been  intercepted  or  wandered  out  of  his  way. 
Beza  had  written  to  me  four  days  before  the  battle,  but  by  the 
stupidity  of  the  bearer  the  letter  has  made  a  long  circuit  before 
it  reached  me.     I  send  you  a  copy.     He  himself  is  now  safe 
and  sound  at  Orleans.     In  the  battle  he  stoutly  harangued  the 
soldiers,  and  took  his  place  in  the  front  ranks,  as  if  he  had 
been  one  of  the  standard  bearers.     This  is  the  state  of  our 
aff"airs.     No  doubt,  the  enemies  imagine  that  they  have  done 
something  very  advantageous  for  themselves  by  disseminating 
false  and  boastful  reports  of  the  afi"air,  in  order  to  throw  dust 
in  the  eyes  of  silly  people.     But  the  matter  is  exactly  as  I 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  289 

have  described  it.  There  is  one  thing  which  I  most  earnestly 
entreat  of  you  and  all  worthy  men ;  it  is,  that  should  there  be 
any  rumour  about  the  arrival  of  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  you 
would  speedily  'drop  a  word  about  it  to  me.  He  pretends  tiiat 
he  is  undertaking  this  journey,  in  order  to  see  the  new  king  of 
the  Romans,  and  negotiate  a  marriage  between  his  dangliter 
and  the  king  of  France.  But  he  has  something  else  in  view. 
Do  you  most  carefully  sift  the  whole  matter,  and  if  you  gain 
any  information  respecting  it,  fail  not  to  let  me  know  on  the 
instant,  even  if  you  should  send  a  courier  expressly  for  that 
purpose,  that  we  may  have  it  in  our  power  to  provide  against 
his  criminal  projects.  I  wish  there  had  been  some  one  to  un- 
dertake the  defence  of  my  cause  when  Baudouin  passed  through 
.your  town.  Certainly,  either  justice  would  have  been  denied 
me,  or  he  would  never  have  escaped  hanging.  When  I  had 
resolved  at  this  time  not  to  intermeddle  with  the  Polish  blas- 
phemies, your  entreaties  prevailed  on  me  to  expose  an  impious 
error  Avhich  had  fascinated  some  of  our  countrymen.  His  fool- 
ish pride,  then,  in  threatening  us  with  so  much  assurance  sur- 
prised me,  though  I  suspect  that  the  author  of  the  epistle  is  a 
certain  snappish  Frenchman,  whose  temper  I  think  I  can  recog- 
nize in  it  as  in  a  mirror.  At  your  request,  then,  I  have  ex- 
posed my  judgment,  and  since  the  answer  respecting  an  arbiter 
has  miscarried,  lest  any  thing  similar  should  take  place,  I  have 
taken  care  that  this  should  be  published,  for  it  will  be  useful 
that  it  should  be  known  everywhere. 

AVhile  my  letter  is  waiting  for  the  departure  of  the  messen- 
ger, a  report  is  spread  about  of  a  new  engagement  in  which 
two  thousand  of  the  enemy  have  been  slain.  There  is,  also,  a 
talk  of  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  at  Cambray,  but  it 
does  not  seem  to  me  very  probable.^  Three  thousand  men  have 
been  sent  from  Lyons  to  pillage  the  neighbouring  district. 
Corn  has  already  been  conveyed  there  by  a  great  many  ves- 
sels. If  they  get  possession  of  Macon,  as  they  hope,  there  will 
be  a  sufficient  supply  of  provisions,  on  account  of  the  naviga- 

'  The  Duke  of  Guise  fell  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin  on  the  18th  of  February  fol- 
lowing, at  the  siege  of  Orleans. 

37 


290  THE   QUEEN   OF   NAVARRE.  [1563. 

tion  from  Burgundy  being  open.     For  the  Soane  will  furnish 
them  abundantly  with  wheat,  wine,  wood,  and  hay. 

Farewell,  most  distinguished  sir  and  respected  brother,  along 
with  your  fellow  pastors.  May  the  Lord  preserve  you  all  in 
safety,  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  bless  your  labours. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

I  would  have  sent  off  this  letter  earlier,  if  De  Frie  had  not 
earnestly  begged  me  to  put  it  off  till  the  moment  of  his  depar- 
ture ;  for  he  fancied  he  would  receive  a  warmer  welcome  among 
you  if  he  should  be  the  bearer  of  it.  I  had  no  other  messen- 
ger at  hand,  but  it  was  my  intention  to  hire  one,  who  should  go 
as  far  as  Berne.  I  suppose  the  report  has  also  reached  you, 
which  has  been  afloat  here,  about  the  assassination  of  the  Ger- 
man deputies  in  Champaigne.  I  do  not  believe  it.  Because 
the  Comte  Palatine  had  given  that  very  inauspicious  advice  to 
M.  Spifame,  the  prince's  legate,  not  to  be  in  a  hurry  about 
sending  off  an  embassy,  the  affair  had  been  broken  off.  What 
is  said,  that  the  one  was  of  the  family  of  Luneburg  and  the 
other  the  Comte  of  Mansfeld,  is  by  no  means  probable. 
[Lat.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCXXXVIII.— To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre.' 

Counsels  for  the  abolition  of  the  Catholic  worship  and  the  establishment  of  the  pure 
gospel  in  Navarre. 

Geneva,  2<ith  January,  1563. 

Madame  : — Since  it  has  pleased  God,  in  removing  from  this 
world  the  late  king,  your  husband,  to  put  into  your  hands  the 

'  Letter  written  to  the  Queen  of  Navarre  after  the  death  of  her  husband. 

Severely  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Rouen  where  he  commanded  the  Catholic  army, 
this  prince  whom  fortune  seemed  for  a  moment  to  call  to  great  things,  but  whose  in- 
curable weakness  rendered  him  the  sport  of  all  parties,  died  at  Andelis  the  17th 
November,  1562,  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  appeared,  if  we  may  believe 
the  account  of  one  of  his  servants,  to  repent,  during  his  last  moments  of  having  be- 
trayed the  Reformed  faith  :  "  Towards  the  evening  the  queen  mother  who  had  been 
informed  .  .  .  came   to  see  him,  and,  having  begun  to  converse  with  him,  said : 


li;;G3.]  THE    QUEEN    OF    NAVARRE.  291 

entire  charge  of  your  country  and  subjects,  you  do  well  to  tliink 
of  acquitting  yourself  of  your  duty,  as  having  to  render  an 
account  to  a  Master  and  Sovereign  Prince,  who  desires  that  his 
right  should  be  maintained.  For  in  commanding  that  he  him- 
self should  be  feared  and  kings  honoured,  thus  doing  you  the 
honour  of  associating  you  with  himself,  it  is  every  way  reason- 
able that  you  should  strive  to  do  him  homage  and  show  him 
gratitude  for  the  state  and  dignity  which  you  hold  from  him; 
and  just  as  you  would  not  suflfer  the  superiority  which  belongs 
to  you  to  be  taken  from  you  by  your  officers,  so  you  are  bound, 
if  you  desire  to  be  maintained  under  the  protection  of  God,  to 
take  measures  as  far  as  it  shall  be  in  your  power  to  have  him 
served  and  honoured,  showing  to  others  the  example.  And  in 
fact,  Madame,  it  is  only  in  subjecting  your  majesty  to  him  that 
your  reign  will  be  established  before  him.  You  know  that  every 
knee  should  bend  under  the  empire  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
but  kings  are  specially  commanded  to  pay  him  this  mark  of 
homage,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  better  how  much  more  they 
are  held  to  cast  down  the  loftiness  which  has  been  bestowed  on 
them,  and  exalt  him  who  is  the  chief  of  the  angels  of  paradise 
and  consequently  of  the  great  ones  of  this  world.  Wherefore, 
Madame,  since  the  government  is  now  come  into  your  hands, 
know  that  God  wishes  to  prove  more  and  more  the  zeal  and 
solicitude  you  have  to  acquit  yourself  faithfully  in  giving  the 
pre-eminence  to  the  true  service  which  he  demands.  There  are 
several  reasons  which  prevent  me  from  pushing  this  argument 
any  farther.     For  all  who  have  any  dominion  are  also  enjoined 


Brother,  how  do  you  spend  your  time  ?  You  should  make  some  one  read  to  you.  lie 
replied :  All  my  servants  or  the  greater  part  of  those  who  are  around  me  are  Hugue- 
nots, to  which  the  lady  replied:  They  are  no  less  your  servants."  The  queen  having 
retired,  he  called  for  his  physician,  and  had  the  history  of  Job  read  to  him,  to  which 
he  listened  attentively.  Ho  then  said  :  "Ah  1  Raphael,  I  see  very  well  that  I  am 
dying,  you  have  served  me  seven  and  twenty  years,  and  now  you  see  the  deplorable 
days  of  my  life.  .  ."  And  hereupon,  he  began  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  to  beg  pardon 
of  God,  and  make  a  confession  of  his  faith,  according  to  the  manner  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  protesting  that  if  God  should  give  him  the  grace  to  recover,  he  would  cause 
the  gospel  to  be  preached  in  purity  all  over  the  kingdom,  but  that  he  would  keep  by 
the  Confession  of  Augsburg."  Account  of  the  King  of  Navarre's  death.  Afchive$ 
curieuses  de  I'Histoire  dc  France,  vol.  V.  p.  70,  and  the  following.  See  also  Beza,  vol. 
ii.  pp.  665-667. 


292  THE   QUEEN   OF   NAVARRE.  [15G3. 

to  purge  their  territories  of  every  kind  of  idolatry  and  cor- 
ruption,  by  which  the  purity  of  true  religion  is  defiled.  And 
M'hen  St.  Paul  commands  to  pray  for  kings  and  all  who  are  in 
authority,  it  is  not  without  cause  that  he  adds  this  reason,  "  In 
order  that  we  may  live  under  them  in  all  godliness  and  honesty." 
Before  speaking  of  civil  virtues,  he  enjoins  the  fear  of  God,  by 
which  he  signifies  that  the  ofiice  of  princes  is  to  see  that  God  be 
adored  with  purity.  I  take  into  consideration  the  difficulties 
which  may  retard  you,  the  fears  and  doubts  which  may  debilitate 
your  courage,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  the  numerous  councillors 
you  shall  have  around  you,  if  they  think  only  of  the  world,  will 
endeavour  to  stay  your  hand  in  this  good  work.  But  it  is 
certain  that  all  fear  of  men  which  will  divert  us  from  paying  to 
God  the  homage  he  deserves,  and  induce  us  to  deprive  him  of 
his  due,  proves  that  we  do  not  fear  him  in  good  earnest,  and 
make  but  small  account  of  his  invincible  power,  by  which  he  has 
promised  to  protect  us.  Wherefore,  Madame,  in  order  to  sur- 
mount all  difficulties,  lean  upon  the  assurance  which  is  given 
you  from  on  high,  after  complying  with  all  that  God  requires. 

These  are  the  two  points  on  which  it  behoves  you  to  have 
your  eyes  constantly  fixed,  which  should  serve  you  even  as 
wings  to  raise  you  above  all  the  obstacles  of  the  world:  namely, 
to  know  what  God  commands  you  to  do,  and  that  he  will  never 
fail  so  to  strengthen  your  hands  that  you  will  succeed  in  all  you 
shall  attempt  in  obedience  to  him.  I  know  indeed  the  argu- 
ments that  several  bring  forward  to  prove  that  princes  ought 
not  to  compel  their  subjects  to  live  in  a  Christian  manner.  But 
it  is  a  dispensation  far  too  profane — that  which  permits  the  man 
who  will  give  up  nothing  that  belongs  to  himself,  to  defraud  his 
superior  of  his  rights.  If  God's  command  does  not  move  us, 
this  threat  should  cause  us  to  tremble;  every  kingdom  that  will 
not  be  subservient  to  that  of  Jesus  Christ  shall  come  to  nought. 
For  that  refers  properly  to  the  state  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Thus  whatever  fine  excuses  the  persons  produce  who  wish  to 
colour  over  their  own  cowardice,  I  entreat  you,  Madame,  to 
reflect  seriously  with  yourself,  and  judge  whether  the  empire 
of  God  should  not  be  preferred  to  the  honour  which  he  has 


1563.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE.  293 

bestowed  on  you,  and  you  will  be  able  speedily  to  resolve  this 
point. 

In  the  second  place  it  remains  for  you  to  arm  yourself  with 
his  promises  that  your  faith  may  be  victorious  over  the  world, 
as  says  St.  John,  and  here  let  me  remind  you  of  what  is  said 
by  the  prophet  Isaiah  and  quoted  by  St.  Peter,  not  to  be  alarmed 
by  the  terrors  of  the  multitude,  but  to  sanctify  the  Lord  of 
Hosts  that  he  may  be  our  sanctuary.  I  know,  Madame,  how 
you  are  watched  by  your  neighbour,  who  will  not  fail,  if  he  can, 
to  take  an  opportunity  of  raising  disturbances,'  but  while  you 
fear  God  you  need  not  fear  him.  It  will  not  be  zeal  which  will 
actuate  him,  though  he  makes  of  that  a  false  pretext.  Seeing 
then  that  he  is  lying  in  wait  for  you,  fortify  yourself  with  the 
best  defence  you  can  have,  and  if  God  permits  that  the  wicked 
make  efforts  to  do  you  some  despite,  call  to  mind  the  memorable 
history  of  Hezekiah,  for  though  God  gave  loose  reins  to  his 
enemy  to  assail  him  soon  after  he  had  done  away  with  super- 
stitious rites,  and  even  though  Rabshakeh  had  cast  in  his  teeth 
that  God  would  not  aid  him,  seeing  that  he  had  overthrown  the 
altars,  yet  for  all  that  the  admirable  succour  which  suddenly 
came  to  him  from  heaven  is  a  sufficient  example  for  you  to  set 
at  defiance  all  those  who  fancy  they  shall  have  any  advantage 
over  you  under  colour  of  the  changes  you  may  introduce. 

I  do  not  say  however,  Madame,  that  all  can  be  done  in  one 
day.  God  has  given  you  prudence  to  judge  of  what  proceed- 
ings you  shall  have  to  adopt,  circumstances  also  will  teach  you 
what  shall  be  the  most  suitable  means ;  and  as  I  cannot  enter 
into  every  detail  on  paper,  I  have  left  to  the  bearer  to  explain 
more  fully  to  you  my  opinion  on  the  greater  number.  I  have 
chosen  him  as  the  person  most  fitted  for  such  a  mission  that  I 
could  find,  and  I  trust  that  from  experience  you  will  find  that 
he  deserves  this  character.^     I  have  obtained  from  our  society 

'  The  ferocious  Monluc,  Governor  of  Guienne  and  Gascony.  He  had  ravaged  these 
two  provinces  with  fire  and  sword  in  order  to  pacify  them.  "  I  resolved,"  says  he 
in  his  memoirs,  "to  cast  from  me  all  fear  and  apprehension,  and  make  use  of  every 
act  of  cruelty  in  my  power."  It  is  well  known  that  ho  kept  his  resolution.  The 
states  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre  were  threatened  on  the  one  hand  by  Monluc,  and  by 
Philip  II.  on  the  other. 

*  The  minister  Raymond  Merlin,  who  had  been  restored  the  year  before  to  the 
Church  of  Geneva,  by  the  Admiral  de  Coligny.     See  p.  224,  note  2. 


294  THE    QUEEN    OF    NAVARRE.  [1563. 

as  well  as  from  our  seigneury,  that  you  should  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  his  services  for  the  time  that  you  have  asked  him, 
and  all  of  them  have  willingly  acceded  to  the  request.  I  have 
only  one  remark  to  make,  however,  Madame,  which  is  that  you 
will  find  it  far  more  easy  to  begin  with  those  places  which  seem 
to  you  the  most  difficult ;  that  is,  where  the  evil  is  most  apparent. 
For  the  others  will  submit  with  less  reluctance  when  you  have 
secured  one,  and  it  will  draw  after  it  a  long  train.  I  need  not 
apprise  you  that  your  presence  on  the  spot  will  be  especially 
necessary,  as  also  that  it  will  be  proper  to  make  such  prepara- 
tions of  every  kind  as  that  the  enemy  may  be  defeated  or  greatly 
weakened  before  matters  come  to  an  open  struggle. 

If  you  are  pleased,  Madame,  also  to  put  in  execution  what 
you  have  deliberated  about,  viz:  to  send  to  the  princes  of 
Germany  to  beg  and  exhort  them  to  continue  their  countenance 
to  the  cause  of  our  Lord,  that  will  be  an  act  worthy  of  your 
majesty,  and  one  of  the  highest  advantage  to  Christendom.  It 
will  be  necessary  to  address  yourself  to  Augustus  Duke  of 
Saxony,  to  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg,  and  to  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse ;  and  the  sooner  you  set  about  it  the  better.  I  beg  you 
then,  Madame,  to  expedite  this  mission.  The  bearer  will  ex- 
plain by  word  of  mouth  all  the  rest. 

Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  you,  I 
will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you  in  his  holy 
keeping,  to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit  in  all  wisdom,  to  fortify 
you  in  virtue  and  constancy,  and  increase  your  majesty  in  all 
good. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy.     Vol.  102.] 


1563.]  M.  DE   SOUBISE.  295 


DCXXXIX.— To  M.  DE  SouBisE.' 

He  exhorts  him  to  lay  down  arms  after  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  disadvantageous  to 

Lis  party. 

Geneva,  bth  April,  1563. 

Monsieur  : — The  time  is  come  when  God  wishes  to  afflict 
you.  Tims  our  duty  is  to  fortify  ourselves  against  temptation, 
however  hard  it  may  be.  I  shall  not  insist  on  this  subject  any 
farther,  inasmuch  as  it  would  only  be  ripping  up  old  sores. 
And,  in  fact,  I  know  why  you  have  directed  the  present  bearer 
to  me.  It  is  to  have  my  opinion  how  you  ought  to  decide,  when 
they  shall  come  to  put  in  execution  what  has  been  concluded 
without  you.  Now  observe,  that  the  question  is  not  about  deli- 
vering your  sentiments  in  a  council  in  which  you  should  have  a 
vote,  for  the  matter  is  concluded  and  done.  If  you  had  been 
on  the  spot,  it  would  have  been  your  duty  not  to  spare  your 
life,  in  order  to  resist  with  all  due  liberty  the  evil  they  wished 
to  accomplish.  At  present,  the  question  is  how  you  are  to  act 
in  the  execution  of  a  decree  which  takes  the  subject  out  of  your 
power.  Here  you  must  consider  what  you  ought  to  do,  and 
what  you  can  do.  I  understand  by  ^vhat  you  can  do,  what  God 
permits  you  to  do,  and  nothing  more.  Now  thus  stands  the 
case  :  you  have  been  sent  to  your  present  government  on  the 
part  of  that  unhappy  man  who,  having  by  his  vanity  betrayed 
God,  has  thrown  every  thing  into  confusion.^     You  have  then  to 

'  To  M.  de  Soubise,  Governor  of  Lyons.  Jean  de  Partenay,  Seigneur  Je  Soubise, 
son  of  Michelle  de  Saubonne,  a  bidy  of  honour  to  Anne  of  Brittany,  and  governess  of 
Renee  of  France.  Instructed  by  Calvin  himself,  at  Ferrara,  in  the  Reformed  faith, 
he  fought  in  the  ranks  of  the  Protestant  party  which  ho  honoured  by  his  moderation 
and  served  with  ability  till  his  death  (in  1567.)  Appointed  by  the  Prince  of  Condi 
governor  of  Lyons  (May,  1562,)  he  kept  possession  of  this  town  in  spite  of  the  reiter- 
ated attacks  of  the  Duke  of  Nemours,  commander  of  the  Catholic  army,  and  gave  it 
up  with  regret  only  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Amboise.  In  this  latter  con- 
juncture he  repeatedly  demanded  the  counsels  of  Calvin.  His  letters  to  the  Reformer, 
full  of  deference  and  respect,  are  signed :  Your  obedient  son  and  faithful  friend,  iSou- 
biae. 

'Impatient  to  recover  his  liberty,  the  Prince  of  Condg  had  hastened  to  sign  the 
peace  of  Amboise,  which  introduced  grave  restrictions  into  the  Edict  of  January.  In 
his  precipitation  he  had  not  even  waited  for  the  arrival  of  De  Coligny,  who  loudly 
accused  him  "  of  having  sacrificed  the  cause  of  God,  and  ruined  more  churches  by 


296  M.  DE   SOUBISB.  [1563. 

practise  the  doctrine  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  which  is,  that  if 
God  takes  away  the  sword  from  those  he  had  girt  with  it,  this 
change  should  make  us  give  way  and  regulate  our  conduct  ac- 
cordingly. Wherefore,  I  do  not  see  that  you  have  any  reason 
or  power,  approved  of  by  God,  to  resist  a  council  of  which  it  is 
impossible  to  say  now  that  it  is  not  legitimate.  If  it  decide 
badly,  since  God  is  pleased  to  afflict  us,  let  us  stoop  quietly  to 
his  will.  For  the  rest,  Monseigneur,  here  is  the  conduct,  I 
fancy,  you  shall  have  to  hold.  I  take  it  for  granted,  that  be- 
fore the  bearer  of  this  letter  reach  you,  M.  de  B '  will  have 

communicated  to  you  the  object  of  his  commission.  The  first 
thing  you  must  do,  then,  will  be  to  surrender  your  office  of 
governor,  both  in  respect  to  him  and  to  the  community. 

I  leave  to  your  own  judgment,  which  on  this  point  stands  in 
no  great  need  of  instructions,  what  you  shall  have  to  do  with 
regard  to  details.  For  it  is  impossible  to  specify  in  a  letter, 
what,  if  I  were  present  on  the  spot,  I  could  do  by  word  of 
mouth.  I  doubt  not,  however,  but  you  will  watch  carefully  over 
the  interests  of  the  city,  and  not  allow  it  to  fall  into  bad  hands.* 
Only  in  suffering  what  you  cannot  prevent,  you  will  take  care 
to  demand  a  delay  for  many  particulars  which  are  not  suffi- 
ciently well  and  duly  ascertained.  This  delay  cannot  be  inter- 
preted as  an  act  of  insubordination,  nor  is  it  possible  that  they 
can  reproach  you  with  wishing  to  impose  conditions  on  your 
sovereign,  when  you  grant  the  principal  thing  demanded,  and 
ask  only  to  have  a  sufficient  and  explicit  declaration  before 
any  thing  be  put  in  execution.^  I  know  that  this  submission 
will  be  a  thing  which  your  people  will  be  hardly  brought  to 

one  stroke  of  his  pen  than  all  the  united  forces  (of  the  enemy)  could  have  overthrown 
in  ten  years." — Hist.  Ecel.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  335. 

'  Le  Sieur  de  Boucart,  commissary  of  the  king  in  Dauphine  and  Languedoe,  pass- 
ing by  Lyons  "  vpith  ample  instructions  for  the  execution  of  the  edict  of  peace." — 
Ihid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  242. 

*  After  having  successively  refused  to  give  up  the  town  to  the  Duke  of  Nemours, 
and  to  M.  de  Gordes,  a  nobleman  of  Dauphine,  Soubise  consented  to  surrender  it  to 
the  Marshal  de  Vicilleville,  who,  by  the  moderation  of  his  character,  had  known  how 
to  merit  the  esteem  of  both  parties. — Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  243,  and  De  Thou.  Lib.  x.xxiv. 

'Religious  liberty  was  solemnly  guaranteed  to  the  Protestants  of  Lyons,  and 
diverse  places  were  assigned  them  for  the  construction  of  their  temples,  "  which  they 
afterwards  built  at  great  expense,  and  of  which  one  was  called  Paradise  and  the  other 
Flcurde  Jys." — Ihid, 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  297 

digest.  But  I  believe  they  will,  at  last,  consider  what  God 
permits  them  to  do.  On  your  side,  I  know  that  you  will  not 
fail  in  any  one  thing  which  you  shall  perceive  to  be  lawful. 
But  I  have  already  declared  to  you  that  God  having  taken 
from  us  a  worthless  man  has  inflicted  on  us  such  a  stunning 
blow  that  we  must  remain  cast  down  till  it  please  him  to  raise 
us  up. 

Monsieur,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indul- 
gent favour.  .  .  . 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXL.— To   BULLINGER.I 

Treaty  of  Amboise — Strictures  on  this  treaty  concluded  by  the  Prince  of  Conde  with- 
out the  approbation  of  Coligny  and  the  principal  Protestant  chiefs. 

Geneva,  S<7i  Aj^ril,  1563. 

We  have  then  been  basely  betrayed  by  the  other  brother  also. 
He  had  promised  by  an  oath,  which  he  desired  to  be  printed, 
that  he  would  conclude  nothing  without  the  consent  of  his  asso- 
ciates. Whilst  he  was  clandestinely  negotiating  with  the  queen 
mother,  he  wrote  to  the  governor  of  Lyons  that  he  would  leave 
the  affair  undecided  till  the  return  of  the  Admiral.  Mean- 
while, he  advises  his  mother-in-law  to  send  away  all  the  troops, 
and  affirms  that  every  thing  has  been  settled.  The  woman,  who 
has  not  much  cunning,  confessed  this  in  a  letter  to  me  at  the 
same  time  she  endeavours  to  appease  me  by  her  flattering  com- 
pliments. What  fortunate  results  he  has  completely  destroyed 
in  one  moment,  you  will  learn,  moreover,  from  the  letter  of 
Beza,  who,  nevertheless,  did  not  venture  to  write  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, nor  what  it  was  which  disarmed  us,  even  before 
this  execrable  treaty  was  generally  known.  The  lust  of  power 
has  entirely  blinded  the  man.     Meanwhile,  he  thinks  he  has 

'  The  death  of  Francis  of  Guise  deprived  the  Catholic  party  of  its  chief,  and  deli- 
vered the  court  of  a  redoubtable  protector.  The  queen  regent  profited  by  that  circum- 
stance to  propose  negotiations,  accepted  with  too  much  facility  by  the  Prince  of  Condfe, 
who  was  impatient  to  recover  his  liberty.     These  led  to  the  treaty  of  Amboise. 

38 


298  BULLINGEK.  [1563. 

achieved  something  important,  because  he  is  enrolled  among 
the  knights  of  the  royal  order,  and  exults  in  puerilities  of  that 
sort.  But  as  God  is  wont  to  work  in  a  marvellous  manner 
through  this  infirmity,  he  will  exalt  his  own  power. 
The  articles  of  this  peace  are  the  following : — 
1st.  All  nobles  who  are  Barons,  and  all  possessing  a  jurisdic- 
tion of  life  and  death  in  their  domains,  or  those  who  possess 
fiefs  by  a  noble  tenure,  shall  remain  in  their  castles  without  be- 
ing molested  in  their  conscience,  and  in  the  free  exercise  of  the 
religion  which  they  style  Reformed,  along  with  their  families, 
and  it  is  permitted  to  such  of  their  vassals  as  of  their  own  ac- 
cord, without  being  forced,  may  desire  it,  to  join  them  in  their 
worship.  But  the  nobles  not  possessing  jurisdiction  shall  enjoy 
that  same  liberty  for  themselves  and  their  families,  only  provided 
they  do  not  live  in  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  under  the  juris- 
diction of  others ;  in  which  case  they  shall  not  be  permitted  to 
exercise  their  religion,  unless  they  obtain  the  consent  of  their 
seigneurs.  The  king,  however,  in  his  immediate  domain  con- 
cedes liberty  to  all. 

2d.  In  all  the  hailliages  from  which  there  lies  an  appeal  to  the 
courts  of  the  Parliaments,  one  city  shall  be  designated  in  the 
suburbs  of  which  religious  worship  may  be  celebrated  by  all 
the  persons  of  the  same  bailliage,  who  may  wish  to  be  present, 
but  not  otherwise.  Every  one,  however,  may  remain  perfectly 
at  liberty  in  his  own  dwelling,  nor  shall  he  be  molested,  nor 
shall  any  inquisition  be  made  after  him,  nor  any  violence  ofi'ered 
to  his  conscience. 

3d.  In  all  the  cities  in  which  religious  worship  has  been  cele- 
brated, up  to  the  seventh  day  of  the  present  month,  except  the 
other  cities  already  designated,  the  same  religious  worship  shall 
be  exercised  within  the  walls  in  one  or  two  places,  provided  the 
persons  exercising  that  religion  be  not  allowed  to  apply  the 
temples  to  their  use.  For  all  their  property  shall  be  restored 
to  the  clergy,  that  they  may  celebrate  divine  worship  as  they 
were  accustomed  to  do,  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  distur- 
bances. If  any  thing,  however,  shall  have  been  ruined,  the 
clergy  themselves  shall  not  be  permitted  to  institute  a  process. 
4th.  In  the  city  of  Paris,  however,  and  within  the  precincts  of 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  299 

its  jurisdiction,  the  exercise  of  the  Reformed  religion  is  not 
permitted.  But  those  who  shall  remain  there  shall  enjoy  the 
peaceable  possession  of  their  property,  nor  shall  it  be  permitted 
to  molest  or  force  them,  nor  harass  them  by  any  inquisition  re- 
specting matters  of  conscience,  either  for  what  respects  times 
past  or  future. 

5th.  All  cities  shall  return  to  their  ancient  condition,  com- 
merce shall  be  free,  all  foreign  troops  shall  be  dismissed  as 
soon  as  it  may  be  conveniently  done,  and  all  subjects  shall  co- 
operate with  all  their  influence  to  effectuate  this  object. 

6th.  Every  one  shall  be  restored  to  his  rights,  privileges, 
immunities,  state,  honours,  and  functions  of  whatsoever  kind  they 
may  be,  and  shall  be  preserved  and  protected  in  them,  not- 
withstanding all  processes,  decisions,  sentences,  and  decrees 
that  have  followed  the  death  of  King  Henry,  either  for  the 
cause  of  religion  or  on  account  of  the  taking  up  of  arms  in  the 
cause  of  religion.  For  decisions  of  that  sort  shall  be  null  and 
void,  of  no  effect  or  value,  so  that  under  pretext  of  such  decisions 
heirs  shall  not  be  barred  from  the  tranquil  possession  of  their 
rights. 

7th.  And  that  the  Seigneur  Prince  of  Cond^,  Lieutenant 
General  of  the  kingdom  and  Governor  of  Picardy,  be  freed  from 
all  anxiety,  and  that  no  reproach  or  odium  be  attached  to  him 
in  time  to  come,  and  that  he  be  declared  a  good  relation  and 
cousin  and  faithful  subject  of  the  king  as  he  deserves  to  be  by 
his  proximity  to  the  blood  royal;  and  further  that  all  knights, 
nobles,  gentlemen,  burgesses,  whether  of  cities  or  country  towns, 
and  in  fine  whatever  may  have  adhered  to  his  party  in  this  war, 
whithersoever  they  may  have  carried  their  arms  during  these 
troubles,  shall  be  declared  and  reputed  to  be  faithful  subjects  of 
the  king  ;  because  it  is  fully  recognized  that  whatever  they  have 
done  up  to  the  present  moment,  they  have  done  with  a  good  in- 
tention and  in  obedience  to  the  king.  Wherefore  they  are  ex- 
onerated from  all  blame. 

8th.  The  said  seigneur  prince  shall  be  relieved  from  all  pe- 
cuniary obligations,  and  whatever  by  his  orders  may  have  been 
disbursed  of  the  royal  revenues,  whatever  may  be  its  amount, 
the  king  shall  place  to  his  own   account.     He  shall   remain, 


300  BULLINGER.  [1563. 

moreover,  free  and  exempt  from  all  law  suits,  prosecutions,  or 
molestation,  in  all  that  concerns  contributions  levied  upon  cities 
or  towns,  silver  vases  taken  from  temples,  ecclesiastical  revenues 
and  incomes,  and  whatever  may  have  been  expended  in  the 
present  war — so  that  neither  he,  nor  his  friends,  nor  his  agents 
may  be  called  to  give  an  account  for  the  past,  nor  in  time  to 
come.  Also  that  for  coining  of  money,  casting  of  cannons, 
manufacturing  of  gunpowder,  building  of  fortresses,  or  devastating 
and  demolition  of  buildings,  no  action  shall  be  brought  against 
them,  demanding  damages  either  from  the  prince  himself,  or 
from  communities,  or  from  individuals. 

9th.  That  all  captives,  whether  by  right  of  war  or  on  account 
of  religion,  shall  be  dismissed  by  both  parties  with  full  liberty 
and  without  any  ransom  ;  though  in  this  category  the  king  will 
not  have  robbers  and  assassins  included,  to  whom  the  benefit  of 
this  treaty  shall  not  be  extended. 

10th.  All  injuries  and  damages  committed  during  the  present 
war,  are  held  for  the  future  to  be  effaced,  extinguished,  and 
buried  in  oblivion,  and  every  one  of  whatever  condition  he  may 
be,  and  to  whichsoever  of  the  two  parties  he  may  belong,  is 
hereby  interdicted  on  pain  of  capital  punishment  from  injuring, 
provoking  to  quarrels,  litigating,  or  insulting  another,  under  pre- 
text of  religion. 

11th.  Those  who  profess  the  Reformed  religion  will  break  up 
all  leagues  they  have  contracted  either  within  the  kingdom  or 
beyond  its  bounds  ;  nor  shall  they  in  future,  impose  taxes,  or 
levy  troops,  or  raise  contributions  in  money  ;  moreover  they 
shall  hold  no  assemblies,  or  consistories,  or  public  meetings,  ex- 
cept for  the  exercise  of  religious  worship.  Amboise,  19th 
March,  1562. 

Thus  signed  with  our  own  hand, 

Charles. 

And  underneath : 

For  the  king  in  his  council, 

ROBERTET. 

You  see,  my  worthy  brother,  to  what  we  have  been  reduced 
by  the  inconsistency  of  one  man ;  for  he  might  have  obtained 


1563.]  THE    COMTESSE    DE    ROYE.  301 

without  any  difficulty  from  tlie  queen  whatever  conditions  ho 
pleased,  but  he  has  voluntarily  prostituted  himself  to  the  most 
abject  obsequiousness.  We  are  now  anxiously  looking  out  for 
tlie  issue  of  all  this.  We  have  much  reason  to  fear  disturb- 
ances, in  appeasing  which  I  shall  not  cease  to  put  forth  every 
effort  in  my  power.  As  soon  as  Beza  shall  be  back,  you  will 
learn  the  more  secret  details  of  the  proceeding.  The  Duke  of 
Nemours  is  so  seriously  ill  of  an  intermittent  fever  that  the 
doctors  despair  of  his  life.  The  secretary  of  the  royal  deputy 
was  at  Deux  Ponts. 

When  the  cardinal  came  there,  he  says  that  at  a  public 
banquet  a  very  ancient  and  broad  cup  was  produced,  on  which 
were  carved  verses,  which  confirm  our  doctrine  respecting  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  that  the  cardinal  gazed  at  the  sight  for  a 
long  time  like  one  almost  thunderstruck. 

Farewell,  most  excellent  sir,  and  honoured  brother.  In  my 
hurry  I  had  almost  forgotten  that  within  the  last  two  days  I 
have  received  from  you  a  couple  of  letters,  one  of  which  was 
accompanied  with  books  for  which  I  return  you  my  thanks.  I 
beg  you  to  present  my  best  respects  to  all  your  fellow  pastors, 
to  your  sons  and  your  sons-in-law.  May  the  Lord  preserve  you 
all  in  safety.  My  colleagues  and  friends  all  salute  you,  espe- 
cially Jonvillers. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Laf.  On'g. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.\ 


DCXLL — To   THE    COMTESSE   DE   ROYE.' 

He  blames  the  conduct  of  tbe  Prince  of  Conde,  and  deplores  the  condition  of  the 
French  churches  badly  protected  by  the  last  treaty. 

Geneva,  April,  1563. 

Madame  : — The  conditions  of  the  peace  are  so  much  to  our 
disadvantage  that  we  have  great  reason  to  invoke  God  more 

'  Without  a  date.  Written  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Amboise  ;  that  is, 
early  in  April,  1563.  At  a  distance  from  France  during  the  negotiations  which  were 
to  end  in  the  treaty  of  Amboise,  the  Comtesse  de  Roye  could  not  exercise,  in  favour 


302  THE   COMTESSE   DE   EOYE.  [1563. 

than  ever  that  he  would  have  compassion  upon  us,  and  remedy 
such  extremities.  One  thing  is  certain,  we  must  hold  down  our 
heads  and  humble  ourselves  before  God  who  has  admirable 
issues  in  his  hand,  though  the  beginnings  are  such  as  to  asto- 
nish us.  I  cannot  dissemble  that  every  body  is  displeased  with 
the  prince  for  showing  himself  so  accommodating,  and  still 
more  so  for  being  in  such  a  hurry  to  conclude.  It  seems  pretty 
evident,  also,  that  he  has  provided  better  for  his  own  personal 
safety  than  for  the  common  repose  of  the  poor  brethren.  But 
be  that  as  it  will,  this  single  consideration  ought  to  shut  our 
mouths,  that  we  know  that  it  is  the  will  of  God  again  to  exer- 
cise us.  I  shall  always  give  my  advice  to  abstain  from  arms, 
and  that  all  of  us  should  perish  rather  than  have  recourse,  a 
second  time,  to  the  disorders  which  we  have  witnessed.  I 
hope,  Madame,  that  you  will  do  all  in  your  power  to  advance 
that  which  for  the  moment  seems  put  back.  I  pray  you,  in  the 
name  of  God,  to  make  every  effort.  Nay,  I  imagine  that  the 
habitual  rage  of  our  enemies  will  so  nettle  the  queen  and  those 
who  heretofore  were  far  from  being  favourable  to  us,  that  every 
thing  will  finally  turn  out  well.  It  is  thus  that  God  knows 
how  to  make  light  arise  out  of  darkness.  This  expectation 
alleviates,  in  some  degree,  my  sorrow.  But  I  do  not  cease  for  all 
that  to  pine  away  with  anguish  which  consumes  me  since  the  news. 
Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your 
indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  holy  keeping,  and  restore  you  sound  and  safe  with 
your  grand-children,  whom  God  has  honoured  by  making  them 
pilgrims  in  a  foreign  land.'     This  they  will  have  occasion  to 

of  the  Reformed  party,  the  influence  which  her  credit  at  court  and  the  ascendency 
she  possessed  over  the  Prince  of  Conde  assured  her.  She  wrote  from  Strasbourg  to 
Theodore  Beza  : — "  I  have  had  no  other  news  from  France,  except  the  confirmation 
of  that  which  was  brought  me  by  Millet,  viz.,  that  the  queen  and  the  prince  give  ex- 
cellent orders  throughout  all  the  provinces  that  peace  be  maintained.  I  have  hopes 
that  you  shall  see  with  God's  help  that  all  those  who  show  themselves  still  refractory 
will  be  punished  as  they  deserve.  There  arrived  here  yesterday  a  man  from  the 
court  who  assures  me  that  the  prince  is  welcome  there,  and  that  he  daily  has  one  to 
preach  in  the  king's  household,  where  he  has  a  numerous  audience.  ...  I  am  on 
my  way  to  France,  where  I  shall  spare  no  pains  that  contribute  to  the  advancement  of 
the  glory  of  God." — Letters  of  the  7th  May,  1563,  (Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  196.) 

'  The  Comtesse  de  Roye  bad  taken  with  her  to  Strasbourg  the  young  children  of 
the  Prince  of  Conde,  with  the  exception  of  the  Marquis  of  Conti,  then  nine  years  of 


1563.]  THE    MARQUISE    DE    ROTHELIN.  303 

remember  when  they  come  to  a  riper  age,  ...  with  like  .  .  . 
affection  all  their  life.' 

[Fr.  On'g.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  113.] 


DCXLII. — To  THE  Marquise  de  Rothelin.^ 

He  congratnlates  her  on  her  firmness  in  the  midst  of  troubles,  and  exliorta  her  to 

perseverance. 

Geneva,  Ajml,  1563. 

Madame  : — Though  since  a  year  I  have  often  had  news  of 
you,  and  such  too  as  afforded  me  ample  matter  for  rejoicing 
and  praising  God,  nevertheless  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  from 
your  own  letters  what  I  could  not  so  well  comprehend  from  the 
accounts  of  others.  True  it  is,  you  do  not  say  any  thing  about 
those  matters  of  which  we  have  heard  from  other  sources :  namely, 
that  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  troubles  you  have  never  been 
either  ashamed  or  afraid  to  confess  that  you  belong  to  the  flock 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  nay,  that  your  house  has  been  an  hospital  to 
receive  the  poor  scattered  sheep  in  which  God  has  been  glori- 
fied by  the  mouth  of  all  his  faithful  ones.  The  humanity  you 
have  shown  towards  those  who  were  afiiicted  for  his  name,  has 
also  been  to  him  a  pleasing  sacrifice.  If  the  wicked  have  been 
exasperated  by  it,  it  is  enough  for  you  to  have  the  promise  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  who  shall  give  a  cup  of  cold  water 
in  his  name  to  one  of  the  least  of  his  disciples  shall  not  lose  his 
reward.     What  has  most  delighted  me,  Madame,  in  your  letters 

age,  who  remained  at  Orleans  with  the  Princess  of  Conde,  his  mother. — Beza,  vol.  ii., 
page  11. 

'  The  concluding  words  of  the  letter  are  illegible. 

"  Without  a  date ;  written  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Amboise ;  that  is, 
in  April,  1.563.  Living  in  retirement  during  the  first  civil  war,  at  the  Chateau  of 
Blandy,  near  Melan,  the  Marquise  de  Rothelin  had  not  ceased  to  testify  her  attach- 
ment to  the  gospel  which  she  publicly  professed,  along  with  the  Duke  of  LongueviHe, 
her  son,  since  the  year  1561  : — ''  The  Duke  of  LongueviHe,  a  young  man  of  the  prin- 
cipal nobility  and  of  great  hopes,  at  the  last  festival  of  E.aster,  sat  down  along  with 
his  mother  at  the  Lord's  table,  and  fully  abjured  idolatry."  (Beza  to  Calvin,  24th 
May,  1561.)  The  marriage  of  the  Duke  of  LongueviHe,  with  Marie  do  Bourbon, 
widow  of  Francis  of  Cleves,  Duke  of  Nevers,  brought  back  this  young  man  to  the 
ranks  of  the  Catholic  party,  whilst  his  mother  remained  invariably  faithful  to  the  Re- 
formed faith. 


304  M.  DE  CRUSSOL.  [1563. 

is  the  hope  that  you  give  us  of  having  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
you  here  ere  long,  and  if  you  find  here  wherewithal  to  alleviate 
your  sorrows  our  satisfaction  will  be  doubled.  I  doubt  not  but 
you  have  endured  many  vexations  and  torments,  but  we  must 
always  put  in  practice  the  doctrine  which  teaches  us  to  lay  all 
our  cares  upon  God,  and  I  know  very  well  you  do  so.  I  shall 
add  nothing  more,  reserving  what  I  have  principally  to  say  for 
your  arrival,  which  I  pray  God  to  accelerate.  Since  you  have 
thought  proper  that  our  brother  Pierre  should  go  to  your  town 
of  Noyers,  we  have  decided  upon  that  measure,  and  given  our 
consent  to  his  departure. 

Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your 
indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  keep 
you  under  his  protection,  to  fortify  you  more  and  more,  and  in- 
crease you  in  all  good  and  prosperity. 

[Fr.  Orig.  Ilhiute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  «.] 


DCXLIIL— To  M.  DE  Crussol.i 

■  Sad  condition  of  France,  presage  of  new  troubles — Double  message  to  the  Prince  of 
Conde  and  De  Coligny. 

Geneva,  Ith  May,  1563. 

MoNSEiGNEUR : — If  I  had  the  means  of  writing  to  you  more 
frequently,  it  would  not  depend  on  my  inclinations  if  I  did  not 
acquit  myself  of  the  duty.  And,  in  fact,  though  the  roads  were 
blocked  up,  I  did  not  fail  to  do  so  when  it  seemed  to  me  there 
was  a  necessity  for  it,  for  without  necessity  I  was  unwilling  to 

'  Antony  de  Crussol,  governor  of  Abbeville,  and  Montreuil,  councillor  of  state, 
knight  of  honour  of  the  queen  mother,  Duke  of  Uses  in  1565,  and  peer  in  1572,  oc- 
cupies with  D'Acier,  his  brother,  an  important  place  among  the  chiefs  of  French  Pro- 
testantism. Appointed  in  1561  Lieutenant  General  in  Dauphine,  Provence,  and  Lan- 
guedoc,  with  instructions  to  pacify  the  religious  disturbances  in  these  provinces,  he 
acquitted  himself  successfully  of  this  mission,  and  showed  himself  equally  the  faithful 
servant  of  the  king,  and  sincere  partisan  of  liberty  of  conscience.  The  violation  of 
the  Edict  of  January  made  him  join  the  ranks  of  the  Protestants.  He  fought  va- 
liantly for  their  cause  without  entirely  partaking  their  religious  opinions,  and  did  not 
lay  down  arms  till  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  of  Amboise.  As  well  as  the  Chatil- 
lons,  Soubise,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  party,  Antony  de  Crussol  deplored  the  precipita- 
tion with  which  the  Prince  of  Conde  had  signed  a  peace  disadvantageous  to  the  Re- 
formed churches. 


1563.]  M.  DE   CRUSSOL.  305 

hazard  a  letter.  As  to  the  state  of  France,  I  see  so  much  con- 
fusion on  all  sides  that  I  am  much  afraid  we  shall  be  obliged 
more  than  ever  to  begin  again.  Not  that  the  remedy  was  not 
easy,  and  in  our  own  hands,  had  we  but  wished  to  make  use  of 
it,  but  you  see  the.  position  in  which  we  are  at  present.  "We 
have  nothing  else  to  do,  then,  but  patiently  to  humble  ourselves, 
waiting  till  God  open  up  some  way.  Indeed,  I  doubt  not  but 
we  shall  ere  long  see  some  signs  of  his  doing  so.  In  the  mean 
time,  we  must  busy  ourselves  more  courageously  than  ever,  for 
God  wishes  to  prove  his  followers  by  this  blow,  setting  before 
them  on  the  one  hand  great  difficulties,  and  a  second  time  fur- 
nishing them  with  an  opportunity  of  employing  themselves  in 
good  earnest  in  his  service.  Thus,  Monsieur,  I  beg  you  to  take 
courage.  And  since  you  see  that  God  has  done  you  the  honour 
of  setting  you  as  an  example  and  a  mirror,  you  should  spare 
nothing  in  his  service.  But  I  am  so  confident  of  your  zeal  in 
this  respect,  that  I  will  spare  you  further  exhortations.  Nay, 
as  I  see  that  you  have  at  heart  that  others  should  be  exhorted 
to  do  their  duty,  I  have  written  to  the  prince,'  for  he  also  had 
furnished  me  an  occasion  by  his  letters  brought  to  me  by  Theo- 
dore Beza.  But  excuse  me  if  I  have  not  adopted  the  style  you 
could  have  wished  ;  for  to  make  him  believe  that  black  is  white, 
is  a  thing  too  much  opposed  to  my  natural  disposition,  and  which 
it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  do.  I  have,  likewise,  answered 
the  Admiral,  begging  him  more  privately  to  keep  a  firm  hand 
on  many  things,  not  so  much  for  the  need  he  has  of  being  sti- 
mulated, as  because  he  begged  of  me  to  do  this.  When  he 
shall  think  proper  to  show  the  letters,  there  is  no  tartness  in 
them  that  can  give  offence,  and  there  are  some  goads  to  prick 
on  him  who  shall  see  them. 

Monsieur,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indul- 
gent favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have  you 
in  his  keeping,  to  govern  you  in  your  undertakings  by  his  Spi- 
rit, to  fortify  you  in  upright  constancy,  and  increase  you  in  all 
prosperity. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 

'  See  the  letter  to  the  Prince  of  Cond^,  of  the  10th  May,  a  date  later  than  that  on 
\7hich  it  was  written. 
39 


306  MADAME    DE   CRUSSOL.  [1563. 


DCXLIV.— To  Madame  de  Crussol.' 

Wishes  for  the  happy  success  of  the  journey  to  court,  which  she  is  about  to  undertake 
— Pious  exhortations. 

Geneva,  8fh  May,  1663. 

Madame  : — I  write  to  you  at  random,  not  knowing  whether 
my  letters  will  find  you  in  Languedoc,  since  the  queen  has 
written  to  Madame  de  Roye,  that  she  would  meet  you  at  court. 
But  as  it  is  just  possible  that  you  may  not  have  been  ready  so 
soon,  I  think  it  right  not  to  omit  an  opportunity  of  acquitting 
myself  of  my  duty,  in  declaring  that  I  shall  not  forget  to  pray 
God  to  prosper  your  journey,  and  wherever  you  may  be  to  guide 
you  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  in  such  wisdom  that  you  shall  never 
make  more  account  of  the  world  than  of  him.  I  know  that  he 
has  hitherto  derived  good  services  from  you,  but  you  can  never 
during  the  whole  course  of  your  life  perform  the  hundredth  part 
of  what  you  owe  to  him  every  single  day.  Wherefore,  Madame, 
bethink  yourself  how  you  can  pay  your  arrears,  that  you  may 
show  by  deeds  it  is  no  vain  pretence  when  we  protest  that  we 
wish  to  separate  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  and  pollution,  in 
order  to  dedicate  ourselves  purely  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
died  and  rose  again  that  we  might  live  and  die  in  obedience  to 
him. 

'  Louise  de  Clermont,  Comtesso  de  Tonnerre,  wife  of  Antony  de  Crussol,  and  lady 
of  honour  to  Catherine  de  Medicis.  She  added  to  much  intelligence,  a  lively  wit  and 
promptness  in  repartee,  as  the  following  anecdote  will  show.  A  few  days  before  the 
colloquy  of  Poissy  she  was  present  along  with  the  Queen  of  Navarre  and  the  princes, 
at  a  private  interview  between  Theodore  Beza  and  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  :  "  The 
said  Cardinal  caressing  Beza,  pronounced  these  words :  I  am  delighted  to  have  seen 
and  heard  you.  I  adjure  you  in  the  name  of  God  to  confer  with  us  that  I  may  hear 
your  reasons,  and  you  mine,  and  you  will  find  that  I  am  not  so  black  as  people  have 
represented  me  .  .  .  This  remark  being  made,  the  lady  of  M.  de  Crussol,  who  does 
not  scruple  to  say  what  she  thinks,  observed  that  they  ought  to  have  paper  and  ink 
to  make  the  Cardinal  sign  what  he  had  said  and  avowed,  for,  added  she,  to-morrow 
he  will  say  quite  the  contrary.  In  this  observation  she  was  found  to  have  guessed 
rightly."  Hist.  EccL,  vol.  i.  p,  497.  This  same  trait  is  related  somewhat  dilferently 
in  a  letter  of  Beza's  to  Calvin  :  "  Madame  do  Crussol  has  proved  a  prophet,  for  hold- 
ing the  Cardinal  by  the  hand,  she  said  to  him  aloud;  Good  natured  man  this  evening, 
but  to-morrow  what?"  25th  August,  1561.     (Geneva,  vol.  117.) 


1563.]  THE    PRINCE    PORCIEN.  307 

Above  all,  Madame,  because  I  fear  lest  you  be  solicited  to 
swim  between  two  currents,  I  entreat  you  to  be  on  your  guard, 
for  when  the  matter  in  question  is  how  to  glorify  God  he  cannot 
endure  any  neutrality.  Nay  more,  what  might  have  been 
tolerated  formerly  is  now  no  longer  permitted  you,  for  you  have 
advanced  so  far  that  you  cannot  go  back  without  running  the  risk 
of  a  mortal  fall.  Now  though  this  exhortation  is  superfluous  in 
respect  of  you,  still  I  have  wished  to  confirm  you,  almost  un- 
necessarily, in  your  good  zeal,  that  you  may  know  the  desire  I 
have  to  see  you  holding  on  constantly  in  the  right  way,  and  that 
I  may  have  wherewithal  to  praise  God  and  rejoice  in  the  cares 
I  bestow  on  your  salvation. 

Madame,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indulgent 
favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  maintain  you 
always  under  his  protection,  and  enrich  you  more  and  more  Avith 
the  gifts  of  his  Spirit. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXLV. — To  THE  Prince  Porcien.' 

He  esborts  him  to  glorify  God  in  life  as  in  death. 

Geneva,  May,  1563. 

Monseigneur  : — Though  hitherto  I  have  not  written  to  you, 
I  have  not  ceased  to  entertain  towards  you  the  respect  which 
you  merit,  and  a  wish  to  employ  myself  in  rendering  you  a 
service,  desiring  that  God  would  furnish  me  the  means  of  doing 
so ;  for  I  cannot  be  his  servant  without  loving  and  honouring 

'  Antony  de  Croi,  Prince  de  Porcien,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  seigneurs  of  the  court 
of  France,  attached  himself  at  a  very  early  period  of  life,  to  the  cause  of  the  Refor- 
mation and  the  party  of  the  Admiral  de  Coligny.  Mixed  up  in  an  active  manner  with 
the  first  civil  war,  he  signalized  himself  by  his  valour  at  the  battle  of  Dreux,  kept  up 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace,  a  correspondence  with  Calvin  and  Theodore  Bezn, 
and  died  of  poison,  it  is  said,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six.  There  exists  in  the  archives 
of  Colonel  Tronchin  at  Lavigny,  a  fine  epistle  of  consolation  addressed  by  Theodore 
Beza  to  his  widow  Catherine  of  Cleves,  Comtesse  d'Eu.  She  contracted  a  second 
marriage  with  Henry  de  Guise,  called  the  Balafre,  and  abjured  the  Protestant  faith 
upon  forming  this  new  alliance. 


308  THE    PRINCE    PORCIEN.  [1563. 

the  choice  virtues  which  he  has  implanted  in  you.  But  as  I 
could  do  nothing  better,  I  have  contented  myself  till  now  with 
holding  you  in  my  remembrance,  praying  our  heavenly  Father 
to  preserve  and  increase  in  you  the  gifts  of  his  Spirit.  I  am 
then  so  much  the  more  delighted,  having  heard  from  the  bearer 
who  is  in  your  service,  that  of  your  kindness  you  have  given  me 
an  opening  to  do  what  I  did  not  dare  though  I  had  a  very  great 
desire.  I  thank  you  humbly  then,  Monseigneur,  for  having 
deigned  to  let  me  know  the  favourable  dispositions  you  cherish 
in  respect  of  me ;  not  only  because  I  put  a  high  value  upon 
standing  well  in  your  opinion,  but  also  because  you  have  fur- 
nished me  with  an  opportunity  of  declaring  how  much  I  am 
your  affectionate  servant.  However,  inasmuch  as  I  have  no 
other  means  of  demonstrating  my  disposition  of  mind  towards 
you,  except  in  procuring  your  salvation,  and  in  applying  to  that 
end  whatever  faculties  God  may  have  bestowed  on  me,  it  is  to 
that  object  I  shall  have  recourse,  praying  and  exhorting  you, 
Monseigneur,  in  the  name  of  God,  to  take  courage  and  pursue 
what  you  have  so  well  and  so  happily  begun.  For  some  time 
you  have  been  for  a  man  of  your  rank  and  quality  put  to  the 
severest  tests,  and  God  has  given  you  that  invincible  courage 
which  has  enabled  you  to  stand  them  all.  This  has  been  an 
excellent  proof  of  your  faith.  But  you  cannot  be  too  much  re- 
minded that  this  is  not  the  end,  and  that  there  still  remain  many 
temptations  against  which  you  will  have  to  do  battle.  For  our 
Christian  life  is  not  only  shown  in  bearing  arms  and  exposing  our 
bodies  and  wealth  in  order  to  maintain  the  quarrel  of  the  gospel, 
but  also  in  subjecting  ourselves  entirely  to  the  obedience  of  Him 
who  has  bought  us  at  so  dear  a  price,  that  he  may  be  glorified 
in  our  life  as  well  as  in  our  death.  Here  it  is  then,  Mon- 
seigneur, where  we  are  called  to  persevere,  in  not  becoming 
weary,  not  only  of  fighting  with  the  sword  against  invisible 
enemies,  but  against  everything  that  might  turn  us  aside  from 
walking  in  the  right  path.  What  is  more,  besides  that  we  are 
so  frail  in  ourselves,  and  have  inward  combats  infinite  in  number 
to  maintain,  the  devil  fails  not  to  raise  up  against  us  many 
crosses,  either  to  make  us  turn  bridle  or  become  lukewarm. 
Thus  when  we  think  of  repose  let  us  only  look  up  to  heaven, 


1563.]  THE   PRINCE   OF   CONDB.  309 

even  though  God  give  us  here  below  a  long  period  of  respite.  I 
say  not  this  from  any  feeling  of  distrust,  because  I  am  convinced 
that  God,  who  has  given  you  such  excellent  tokens  of  his  good- 
ness, will  never  abandon  j^ou.  But  you  feel  by  experience, 
Monseigneur,  that  we  can  never  be  too  well  fortified  in  order  to 
resist  so  many  temptations,  by  which  we  are  incessantly  assailed. 
Nevertheless  doubting  not  but  you  diligently  exercise  yourself 
in  reading  and  hearing  the  holy  exhortations  which  should  serve 
you  for  sword  and  armour,  I  shall  pursue  this  topic  no  further. 
I  know  not  if  God  will  ever  grant  us  the  blessing  (of  which  you 
give  us  some  hope)  of  one  day  seeing  you  in  this  world;  but  the 
main  point  is  that  we  should  all  be  assembled  in  his  eternal 
kingdom.  I  long  notwithstanding  to  enjoy  this  accessary 
pleasure. 

Monseigneur,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your 
indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  holy  keeping,  to  fortify  you  more  and  more  by  his 
power,  and  increase  you  in  all  good  and  prosperity. 
[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXLVI. — To  THE  Prince  of  Conde.^ 

Instructions  respecting  the  greatest  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  treaty  of  Am- 
boise — The  sending  off  of  a  confession  of  faith  to  Germany — Alliance  with  Swis- 
serland — Recommendation  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  lOth  May,  1563. 

Monseigneur  : — I  have  no  need  on  the  present  occasion  to 
present  you  with  any  lengthened  excuses  for  having  delayed  so 

'  Louis  de  Bourbon,  Prince  of  Conde,  chief  of  the  illustrious  house,  forming  a  col- 
lateral branch  of  the  monarchy,  and  which  was  destined  to  give  to  France  the  great 
Conde,  and  become  extinct  in  the  person  of  the  Duke  d'Enghien.  The  rival  of  the 
Guises  and  early  gained  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation,  by  the  influence  of  his  mo- 
ther-in-law, the  Comtesse  de  Roye,  the  Prince  of  Conde  was  imprisoned  after  the 
conspiracy  of  Amboise,  condemned  to  death,  and  restored  to  liberty  by  the  death  of 
Francis  II.  Having  become  from  that  period  the  avowed  chief  of  the  Protestant 
party  in  France,  he  supported  the  Reformation  with  his  credit  in  the  councils  of  the 
king,  and  with  his  sword  at  Dreux,  St.  Denis,  and  Jarnac,  where  he  was  assassinated 
in  1569.  Arbiter  of  peace,  after  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  and  having  it  in 
bis  power  easily  to  concludfe  one  that  would  have  been  advantageous  to  the  Reformed 


310  THE   PRINCE   OF   CONDE.  [1563, 

long  to  write  to  you,  since  I  was  precluded,  for  want  of  means, 
from  acquitting  myself  of  that  duty.  And  even  at  present  I 
am  afraid  that  the  routes  are  far  from  being  safe.  But  since 
you  have  graciously  anticipated  me,  by  your  letters  brought  to 
me  by  my  brother  M.  Beza,  I  am  ashamed  to  delay  any  longer, 
especially  having  an  opportunity  in  the  bearer  who  is  obliged 
to  undertake  a  journey  to  court. 

Respecting  the  conditions  of  the  peace,  I  know  very  well, 
Monseigneur,  that  it  was  not  easy  for  you  to  obtain  them  such 
as  you  could  have  wished.     Wherefore,  if  many  people  desire 
they  had  been  better,  I  pray  you  not  to  think  it  extraordinary, 
for  in  that   respect   they  are  exactly  of  your  own  opinion. 
Meanwhile,  if  God  has  thrust  us  back  more  than  we  imagined, 
it  is  our  duty  to  humble  ourselves  under  his  hand.     Be  that  as 
it  will,  as  I  doubt  not  but  you  have  striven  as  much  as  it  lay  in 
your  power  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  procure  the 
repose  and  liberty  of  the  churches,  I  also  hope,  and  am  per- 
suaded, that  for  the  future  you  will  continue  to  bring  every 
thing  to  a  better  state.     Nevertheless,  Monseigneur,  I  pray  you 
not  to  take  it  amiss  if  on  my  part  I  solicit  you  to  that  effect, 
considering  the  difficulties  by  which  you  are  environed.     In  the 
first  place,  if  you  do  not  make  good  by  your  authority  what 
has  been  concluded  to  the  advantage  of  our  brethren,  the  peace 
will  be  like  a  body  without  a  soul ;  and  experience  has  already 
proved  to  you  how  audaciously  the  enemies  of  God  undertake  to 
do  evil,  unless  they  be  vigorously  resisted.     Next,  without  any 
one  saying  a  word  to  you,  you  see  sufficiently,  in  your  wisdom, 
Monseigneur,  how  many  people  are  watching  for  an  opportunity 
of  getting  the  upper  hand.     You  know  their  manoeuvres ;  if  you 
give  them  leisure  to  surprise  you,  they  will  not  fail  to  profit  by 
it,  and  when  once  they  have  their  foot  in  the  stirrup,  it  will  be 
no  longer  time  to  wish  to  restrain  them.     That  should  induce 
you  to  take  steps  for  being  so  well  supported  in  the  direction 
of  affairs,  that  the  door  may  be  shut  against  all  opponents  who 

churches,  the  Prince  of  Conde  did  not  know  how  to  resist  the  perfidious  seductions 
of  the  queen  mother,  and  signed  on  the  12th  March,  1563,  in  opposition  to  the  opi- 
nion of  seventy-two  ministers  assembled  at  Orleans  the  convention  of  Amhoise  which 
contained  grave  infractions  of  the  Edict  of  January.  This  fault,  bitterly  blamed  by 
Coligny,  was  judged  with  no  loss  severity  by  the  Reformer. 


15C3.]  THE    PRINCE   OF    CONDE.  311 

"want  to  breed  mischief.  In  the  mean  time,  there  will  be  seve- 
ral means  of  enlarging  the  course  of  the  gospel.  I  am  per- 
fectly aware,  Monseigneur,  that  all  cannot  be  done  in  a  day, 
but  I  think,  in  order  to  let  slip  no  opportunity,  you  will  do  well 
to  remember  the  proverb — "  what  is  soonest  is  best,"  for  fear  they 
hatch  new  plots  to  dissipate  all  we  have  gained,  when  we  fancied 
that  every  thing  was  going  on  favourably.  And  it  is  at  this 
moment  that  you  should  labour  more  than  ever,  since  God  seems 
to  be  holding  out  his  hand  to  you,  and  as  he  has  done  you  the 
inestimable  honour  of  charging  you  to  maintain  his  quarrel  with 
your  sword,  it  seems  also  that  he  has  reserved  other  means  for 
bringing  to  perfection  what  he  has  been  pleased  to  commence. 
Since,  then,  it  is  his  will  to  try  and  exercise  us  in  diverse  man- 
ners, you  have  the  greater  occasion  to  quit  yourself  manfully, 
without  sparing  any  thing,  that  you  may  prove  yourself  more 
worthy  in  his  sight. 

I  have  also  another  point  to  touch  upon,  Monseigneur.  Be- 
fore the  Imperial  diet  was  held  at  Frankfort,  to  which  you  sent 
M.  de  Passy,^  I  was  required  and  exhorted  by  M.  d'Andelot  to 
draw  up  a  short  confession  in  your  name,  that  it  might  be  pre- 
sented to  the  diet.^  I  drew  it  up  as  God  gave  me  means.**  The 
Count  of  Beauvais*  having  seen  it,  could  have  wished  very  much 
it  had  been  signed.  But  neither  Madame  de  Roye,  nor  M.  de 
Soubise,  could  find  means  of  putting  it  into  your  hands.     At 

'  In  November,  1562.  The  former  Bishop  of  Nevers,  now  become  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  was  charged  with  the  mission  of  justifying  before  the  Emperor,  the  recourse 
which  Conde  had  to  arms,  and  of  refuting  the  calumnies  spread  in  Genuany 
about  the  Reformed  churches  of  France. — Hist.  Eccl.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  152,  and  the  follow- 
ing. 

"  The  following  is  the  passage  of  D'Andelot's  letter  to  Calvin  : — "For  the  rest,  in 
handling  the  affairs  of  this  country,  I  have  discovered  that  it  is  very  expedient  that  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  and  the  other  principal  seigneurs,  .  .  .  should  cause  to  be  drawn  up  a 
confession  of  faith,  signed  with  their  names,  to  be  presented  by  some  notable  person 
to  the  emperor,  the  electors,  and  other  princes  and  seigneurs  of  Germany.  And,  as 
you  know  well,  that  it  is  impossible  but  that  in  so  large  an  assembly  there  must  be. 
great  diversity  of  opinions,  I  pray  you  most  affectionately  to  take  your  pen  and  draw 
up  the  said  confession  of  faith,  so  that  the  honour  of  God  and  the  purity  of  the  gos 
pel  being  maintained,  the  ears  of  so  many  great  princes  may  not  be  scandalized  by  it. 

^  This  was  the  confession  of  faith,  in  the  name  of  the  Reformed  churches  of  France, 
drawn  up  during  the  war  to  be  presented  to  the  Emperor  in  the  diet  at  Frankfort, 
1562.— 0/>H«cu/e«,  p.  1991,  and  Hut.  Eccl,  vol.  i.,  p.  156. 

•  Odet,  Cardinal  de  Chatillon. 


312  THE   PRINCE    Olf  CONDE.  [1563. 

last,  I  sent  it  to  you  by  a  poor  lad,  but  he  arrived  too  late. 
Thus  this  opportunity  is  gone  by,  though  it  appears  to  me  that 
the  said  confession  would  not  be  unseasonable  even  now  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  it  would  be  productive  of  great  advantages, 
both  within  the  kingdom  and  without.  For  the  rest,  it  would 
be  necessary  to  consult  about  changing  the  preface,  and  instead 
of  being  addressed  to  the  emperor  that  it  should  be  more  gene- 
ral, and  also  without  any  particular  mention  of  what  relates  to 
the  incident  of  the  war.  If  such  a  change  should  meet  with 
your  approbation,  I  have  undertaken  to  apprise  you  where 
it  would  be  proper  to  begin,  as  you  will  see  by  the  copy  which 
I  send  you.  If  you  prefer  to  leave  it  such  as  it  is,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  prefix  a  brief  advertisement  by  way  of  apology 
for  its  not  having  been  produced  at  the  proper  time  and  place. 
As  to  the  advantages  which  would  result  from  it,  I  shall  only 
say  a  word  or  two.  You  know,  Monseigneur,  that  it  would 
attract  many  poor  ignorant  people  to  have  the  patience  to  read 
about  what  otherwise  they  would  reject.  Thus  it  would  be  a  blessed 
means  of  gaining  an  infinite  number  of  persons,  but  we  might 
hope  for  still  greater  fruits  from  it  out  of  the  kingdom,  inas- 
much as  many  Germans  who  have  been  alienated  from  the 
French  on  account  of  the  question  of  the  Lord's  supper  would 
not  abstain  from  casting  a  look  at  it,  appearing  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  your  name.  In  the  mean  time,  that  can  only  tend  to 
procure  you  more  favour.  CBesides,  you  ought  to  anticipate  a 
danger  which  you  have  perhaps  already  felt  in  part,  which  is,  that 
they  will  not  cease  to  stretch  nets  to  entangle  you  in  the  Confes- 
sion of  Augsburg,  a  confession  which  is  neither  flesh  nor  fish,  and 
is  the  cause  of  great  schisms  and  debates  among  the  Germans.] 
Now,  Monseigneur,  having  made  such  a  declaration,  you  would 
have  shut  the  door  on  all  the  importunities  with  which  they 
could  assail  you,  having  always  this  word  to  reply,  that  you 
cannot  retract  the  confession  which  you  have  made,  unless  they 
show  you  some  reason  why.  I  shall  not  give  myself  the  trouble 
to  protest  that  in  this  matter  I  am  seeking  but  the  glory  of 
God,  the  common  welfare  of  his  church,  and  even  your  own 
honour,  because  I  do  not  think  that  you  deem  me  a  man  to 
consult  only  my  own  personal  interests.     Thus  I  shall  wait  for 


1563.]  THE  DUCHESS  OF  FERRARA.  313 

your  answer  to  learn  your  good  pleasure  in  order  that  I  may 
obey  what  you  shall  command  me. 

But  one  thing  more  : — xVs  I  have  learned  that  they  are  treat- 
ing of  an  alliance  in  which  the  Swiss  are  included,  I  pray  you 
for  the  good  of  the  king  to  take  care  that  this  measure  be  vigor- 
ously pursued.  I  urge  this  because  there  were  some  difficulties 
that  you  might  find  tiresome.  But  when  every  thing  is  maturely 
weighed,  such  a  cause  is  not  to  be  given  up  slightly.  I  dare 
not  recommend  to  you  that  this  city  of  ours  should  be  included 
in  the  treaty,  though  the  seigneurs  of  Berne,  our  fellow-bur- 
ghers, have  promised  to  aid  us  in  that  matter,  the  rather  too 
that  everybody  clearly  sees  that  it  is  the  king's  interest,  and 
that  he  will  incur  an  actual  detriment  if  we  "were  left  out.'  I 
dare  not  offer  my  services,  but  it  is  enough  that  you  shall  always 
find  me  disposed,  if  you  see  that  my  co-operation  can  be  of  any 
use. 

Monseigneur,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your 
indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  holy  keeping,  to  conduct  you  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
fortify  you  with  invincible  courage,  and  increase  you  in  all 
good  and  prosperity. 

[Ft:  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXLVII. — To  THE  Duchess  of  Ferrara.^ 

He  congratulates  her  on  her  noble  conduct  amidst  the  civil  wars — Exhorts  her  to 
keep  her  house  free  from  all  scandal,  and  recommends  to  her  an  ancient  servant. 

Qenbva,  10^/i  J/((y,  1563. 

Madame: — I  have  experienced  during  these  troubles  arising 
from    the  war,  in  what  confusion  everything  was   plunged  in 

'  See  page  166,  note  1, 

'Living  retired  at  Montargis  during  the  first  troubles,  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  there 
displayed  the  noblest  character  and  knew  how  to  conciliate  the  respect  of  all  parties. 
In  spite  of  the  threats  of  the  court  and  of  her  son-in-law  the  Duke  of  Guise,  she 
offered  an  asylum  to  the  unhappy  victims  of  the  civil  wars.  "That  was  tiie  cause," 
gays  an  historian,  "that  towns  and  villages  of  the  flat  country  all  fled  to  Muntargis, 
where  several  bad  been  preserved  from  the  commencement  of  the  wars  under  the  pro- 

•40 


314  THE   DUCHESS   OF   FERRARA.  [1563. 

France,  tlie  more  that  I  have  had  no  means  of  writing  to  you 
at  a  time  when  you  stood  more  in  need  of  it  than  ever.  Now  I 
hope  that  the  communications  are  more  open,  and  though  for 
some  time  yet  there  will  be  robbers  and  bandits,  yet  at  last  God 
will  provide  a  remedy  for  all  disorders.  And  indeed  if  he  did 
not  interfere  we  should  be  in  a  worse  state  than  before,  for 
if  those  who  are  in  authority  do  not  put  in  execution  all  the 
provisions  of  the  peace,  advancing  the  honour  of  God  still  more 
than  others  oppose  it,  religion  will  be  like  a  body  without  a 
soul. 

I  know,  Madame,  how  God  has  strengthened  you  during  the 
rudest  assaults,  and  how  by  his  grace  you  have  courageously 
resisted  all  temptations,  not  being  ashamed  to  bear  the  oppro- 
brium of  Jesus  Christ,  while  the  pride  o&his  enemies  rose  above 
the  clouds.  I  know,  moreover,  that  you  have  been  as  it  were  a 
nursing  mother  to  those  poor  persecuted  brethren  who  knew  not 
where  to  betake  themselves.  I  know  that  a  princess,  con- 
sidering things  only  with  the  eyes  of  the  world,  would  have 
been  ashamed  and  taken  it  almost  for  an  insult  that  her  castle 
should  have  been  called  God's  hostelry.  But  I  cannot  do  you 
a  higher  honour  than  in  expressing  myself  thus,  to  commend 
and  recognize  the  humanity  which  you  have  exercised  towards 
the  children  of  God  who  found  a  refuge  with  you.  Oftentimes 
have  I  thought,  Madame,  that  God  had  reserved  such  trials  for 
your  old  age,  that  you  might  have  an  opportunity  of  paying  him 
the  arrears  due  to  him  for  the  timidity  of  times  past.  I  speak 
after  the  manner  of  men ;  for  though  you  had  done  a  hundred, 
nay  a  thousand  times  more,  it  would  not  pay  a  tithe  of  each 
day's  debt  you  are  continually  contracting  for  the  infinite  bless- 
ings he  continues  to  bestow  on  you.  But  what  I  mean  is,  that 
he  has  done  you  a  singular  honour  in  employing  you  in  such  a 

tection  of  the  duchess,  who  being  of  the  blood  royal,  and  cormected  by  affinity  with 
the  Guises,  had  had  a  special  privilege.  She  and  her  ministers  blamed  those  who  took 
up  arms  in  terms  which  rendered  her  and  the  Prince  de  Conde  enemies,  and  this 
quarrel  afforded  a  pretext  for  not  paying  her  proper  respect."  D'Aubign^,  Hist. 
Univ.,  vol.  i.  p.  415.  The  peace  having  been  signed  at  Amboise,  Calvin  wrote  to  the 
Duchess  of  Ferrara,  and  as  he  had  formerly  reproved  her  acts  of  weakness,  he  praised 
the  constancy  and  magnanimity  which  she  had  displayed  amid  the  most  difficult  cir- 
cumstances. 


1563.]  THE   DUCHESS    OP   FERRARA.  316 

duty,  and  making  you  carry  his  banner  in  order  to  be  glorified 
in  you,  while  you  hospitably  entertained  his  word  which  is  the 
inestimable  treasure  of  salvation,  and  afforded  an  asylum  to  the 
members  of  his  son.  So  much  the  more  then  it  is  your  duty, 
Madame,  to  preserve  for  the  future  your  house  pure  and  uncon- 
taminated  that  it  may  be  wholly  dedicated  to  him.  And  on 
this  subject  I  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning  to  you  a  cause  of 
scandal  of  which  I  have  heard  rumours  heretofore. 

There  is  a  young  man  whom  you  have  brought  up  and  settled 
in  marriage,  who  has  dismissed  his  wife  to  keep  up  intercourse 
with  a  strumpet.  I  inquired  of  M.  Biry,  the  circumstances  of 
the  affair,  knowing  that  he  was  such  an  affectionate  servant  to 
you  that  you  would  not  feel  offended  if  I  disclosed  to  him  what 
people  reported  on  this  subject.  He  at  first  replied  that  you 
had  taken  pains  to  correct  such  a  disorder.  However,  he  at 
last  avowed  to  me,  that  though  there  had  been  apparently  some 
amendment,  people  did  not  know  if  it  would  last. 

I  pray  you,  Madame,  in  the  name  of  God  to  be  vigilant  in 
this  and  similar  cases,  to  keep  your  household  unsullied  from  all 
disgraceful  stains,  in  order  to  shut  the  mouths  of  the  ungodly  who 
ask  for  nothing  better  than  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  God. 
And  nevertheless,  rejoice,  as  you  have  good  grounds  for  joy 
amid  so  much  sorrow,  for  it  is  no  slight  blessing  that  God  has 
so  approved  of  you  as  to  choose  you  out  in  order  to  be  glorified 
by  your  means. 

You  will  be  pleased  also,  Madame,  to  excuse  me  for  not  having 
immediately  satisfied  your  desire  in  sending  you  a  preacher. 
But  I  shall  not  fail  to  occupy  myself  with  this  commission  till 
you  be  provided  with  one.  One  cannot  find  at  every  instant 
such  ministers  as  one  could  wish,  and  we  are  importuned  from 
so  many  quarters  that  we  scarcely  know  on  what  side  to  turn 
ourselves.  At  any  rate  you  may  count  upon  being  served  in 
preference  to  all  others,  and  were  you  present  here  you  would 
see  that  it  is  not  without  cause  that  I  beg  of  you  to  have 
patience. 

There  is  a  private  matter  about  which  your  eld  servant 
Messire  Francisco '  has  begged  me  to  write  to  you.     The  subject 

'  Francis   Porto  of  tho  island  of  Candia,  formerly  professor  of  Greek  in  the   Uni- 


316  MONSIEUR   DE    SOUBISE.  [1563. 

of  his  communication  is  this :  Since  you  were  pleased  graciously 
to  promise  him  that  you  would  interest  yourself  in  favour  of  his 
daughter,  and  do  something  towards  procuring  her  a  husband, 
as  she  is  now  of  a  marriageable  age,  he  would  fain  know  your 
good  pleasure  and  what  he  is  to  expect  from  it.  You  know  that 
I  am  not  in  the  habit  of.  soliciting  you  for  any  one,  and  were  it 
for  myself  or  any  of  mine  I  should  not  venture  to  do  it.  But 
since  the  person  in  question  is  your  old  servant,  whom  you  were 
pleased  to  recommend  to  me,  I  did  not  dare  to  refuse  his  re- 
quest, more  especially  as  he  faithfully  discharges  his  duty,  and 
conducts  himself  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  good  men.  On  the 
other  hand,  his  salary,  like  that  of  all  of  us,  is  so  small,  that  it 
would  be  impossible  for  him  to  live  upon  it,  did  he  not  derive 
support  elsewhere  to  enable  him  to  cover  his  expenses. 

Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  keep 
you  always  under  his  protection,  to  strengthen  you  with  in- 
vincible courage,  and  increase  you  in  all  good  and  prosperity. 
[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXLVIIL— To  Monsieur  de  Soubise.' 

Counsels  respecting  the  conduct  be  ought  to  hold  in  very  difficult  conjunctures. 

Geneva,  25th  May,  1563. 

Monsieur  : — Both  your  letters  found  me  in  so  bad  a  state 
of  health  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  answer  them  sooner, 

versity  of  Ferrara.  Banished  from  this  town  as  a  Lutheran  he  retired  first  to  Venice 
and  afterwards  to  Geneva,  where  he  obtained  the  rights  of  citizenship  as  well  as  the 
chair  of  Greek  literature  in  the  Academy.  He  received  during  his  old  age  numerous 
tokens  of  the  affection  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  and  died  in  1581,  leaving  many 
■writings  which  procured  him  the  esteem  of  Joseph  Soaliger.  Senebier,  Hist.  Lift., 
vol.  ii.  p.  24. 

'  See  letter,  page  .  Dissatisfied,  as  well  as  all  his  party,  at  the  treaty  signed  by 
the  Prince  of  Conde,  Soubise  still  hesitated  to  surrender  Lyons  into  the  hands  of  the 
king.  The  presence  in  Dauphine  of  Protestant  troops,  commanded  by  the  Comtes  of 
Beauvais  and  of  Crussol,  encouraged  him  to  tempt  again  the  fortune  of  arms.  Cal- 
vin, in  dissuading  him  from  this  latter  measure,  exhorted  him  to  temporize.  The 
arrival  of  the  Marshal  de  Vicilleville,  "  a  man  of  a  peaceable  disposition  who  had 


1563.]  MONSIEUR    DE    SOUBLSE.  317 

and  even  at  present  I  know  not  if  I  shall  be  able  to  do  it,  inas- 
much as  the  pains,  or  rather  the  tortures,  of  a  desperate  colic 
do  not  give  me  a  moment's  respite.  Wherefore,  I  pray  you  to 
excuse  my  brevity,  for  my  bodily  sufferings  have  in  a  manner 
stultified  my  mind.  Having  observed  the  current  of  your 
affairs,  I  always  return  to  my  old  conclusion  to  see  and  judge 
•what  is  lawful  and  what  is  possible.  If  the  question  were  to 
fight  in  good  earnest,  I  do  not  see  by  what  title  you  could  do 
so,  since  God  has  disarmed  yon.  To  put  off  and  shuffle,  I  do 
not  think  right,  and  especially  that  you  may  have  leisure  to  put 
to  the  proof  what  are  the  intentions  and  abilities  of  the  two 
comtes  to  succour  you,  for  without  them  I  do  not  see  how  you 
can  maintain  your  position. 

Besides,  even  if  they  should  join  you,  you  would  still  require 
to  have  some  show  of  right  on  your  side ;  for  to  attempt  any 
thing,  unless  we  be  called  and  warranted  to  do  so,  can  never 
come  to  any  good.  I  do  not  say  that  some  just  occasion  may 
not  be  found,  but  hitherto  I  do  not  know  of  any,  and  that  is 
the  reason  why  I  should  not  dare  to  advise  you  to  decide  upon 
making  war  at  least  till  I  be  better  informed.  These  means  seem 
to  me  altogether  inadequate,  unless  the  Comte  de  Beauvais  en- 
gage his  associate  to  do  more  than  I  expect  when  I  consider  the 
character  of  both  parties.  I  do  not  say,  however,  that  you 
should  quit  the  place  at  the  very  first  summons,  in  order  to 
throw  yourself  into  the  jaws  of  the  wolf;  but  to  act  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  command  of  the  king,  I  do  not  see  that 
God  permits  you.  What  remains,  then,  is  to  reflect  to  what 
point  excuses  are  admissible,  both  for  your  delay  in  laying 
down  arms,  and  for  your  refusal  to  admit  M.  de  Nemours  as 
governor.  I  feel  the  importance  of  the  inconveniences  you 
allege,  but  for  sole  answer  I  stick  to  the  saying  of  Abraham, 
God  will  provide  for  the  matter,  as  indeed  the  apostle  reminds 
us  that  he  is  faithful,  and  thus  will  not  suffer  us  to  be  tempted 
above  what  we  can  bear.  Into  particulars  I  will  not  enter,  ex- 
cept that  it  would  be  useful,  in  my  opinion,  to  write  to  the 
comtes  openly,  offering  to  join  them  in  all  that  will  be  found 

never  shown  himself  partial  during  these  troubles,"  put  an  end  to  the  hesitations  of 
Soubise,  and  caused  Lyons  to  come  again  into  the  power  of  the  king. 


318  THE   QUEEX   OF   NAVARRE.  [1563. 

proper  to  keep  up  their  courage.  I  doubt  not  but  you  have 
written  to  the  Admiral,  on  account  of  your  position  which  will 
serve  as  a  summons  to  make  him  undertake  the  charge  and  so 
relieve  you. 

Monsieur,  having  commended  myself  to  your  indulgent  favour, 
etc. 

[-f>.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCXLIX. — To  THE  Queen  of  Navarre.^ 

Sending  off  ministers — Claiming  of  a  debt  contracted  by  the  King  of  Navarre. 

Geneva,  1««  June,  1563. 

Madame  : — It  has  grieved  me  that  the  bearer  did  not  find  me 
in  a  condition  to  busy  myself  as  I  could  have  wished,  in  order 
to  satisfy  your  holy  desire ;  but  I  have  been  tormented  during 
fifteen  days  by  colic  of  so  extraordinary  a  kind,  that  all  my 
senses  and  my  intellect  have  been  rendered  almost  useless  by 
the  violence  of  the  pain.  At  present,  though  the  complaint 
has  not  left  me,  it  begins  to  assume  a  milder  form  which  gives 

'  Docile  to  the  councils  of  Calvin,  and  without  allowing  herself  to  be  terrified  by  the 
anathemas  of  Rome,  and  the  threats  of  Spain,  Jane  d'Albret  had  courageously  un- 
dertaken the  work  of  reformation  in  her  states.  She  abolished  the  worship  of  im- 
ages, forbade  public  processions,  suppressed  the  monasteries,  and  transformed  the 
churches  into  Protestant  temples.  The  ecclesiastical  lands  were  united  to  the  domain 
of  the  crown,  their  revenues  consecrated  to  the  relief  of  tho  poor,  and  the  education 
of  youth.  Missionaries  of  Beam  and  the  Basques  country  preached  the  gospel  in 
their  own  language.  But  their  number  was  insufficient.  By  the  cares  of  Calvin  and 
Beza  the  society  of  Geneva,  who  had  already  granted  Merlin  to  the  Queen  of  Na- 
varre, associated  themselves  more  actively  in  this  work  by  sending  off  twelve  minis- 
tcTS.  So  complete  a  revolution  could  not  be  accomplished  without  great  difficulties. 
The  genius  of  the  queen  happily  triumphed  over  them.  "  I  receive  here,"  Merlin 
wrote  to  Calvin,  "  so  many  molestations  that  my  health  suffers.  These  molestations 
are  not  caused  by  the  queen,  for  I  can  affirm  that  I  have  her  constancy  in  admira- 
tion, and  I  entreat  you  to  confirm  it  more  and  more  by  your  letters.  .  .  .  They  set 
before  our  eyes  marvellous  dangers  at  one  time  from  a  sedition  of  the  natives  of  the 
country,  at  another,  from  the  Spaniards,  then  from  Monluc,  and  even  from  France. 
They  spread  about  reports  that  the  preparations  for  war  are  all  made,  in  order  to  fall 
upon  us  if  we  make  any  innovations  in  religion.  The  constancy  of  the  queen  sur- 
mounts all  that." — Letter  of  the  23d  July,  1563.  This  religious  revolution  was  com- 
pleted in  1574,  and  was  crowned  by  the  celebrated  ordinances,  a  monument  of  the 
faith  and  the  genius  of  the  Queen  of  Navarre. 


1563.]  THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE.  319 

me  hopes  of  further  relief.  In  short,  however,  my  brotlicr  M. 
Beza,  along  with  the  society,  has  supplied  my  absence.  The  gen- 
tlemen of  this  city,  also,  having  learned  from  me  the  recommen- 
dations which  you  addressed  to  them  have  prayed  and  exhorted 
us  to  acquit  ourselves  to  the  best  of  our  abilities.  At  last,  we 
have  procured  for  you  a  dozen  of  men.  If  they  are  not  in  all 
respects  as  accomplished  as  wc  could  have  wished,  I  beg  you, 
Madame,  to  have  patience,  for  ministers  are  a  merchandize  one 
cannot  lay  one's  hands  on  as  easily  as  it  were  to  be  desired. 
At  any  rate,  my  colleagues  trust  that  they  will  be  tolerably 
proper  and  fitting  to  instruct  the  people  to  your  satisfaction. 
Nothing  remains,  Madame,  but  to  set  them  to  work  and  to 
strengthen  their  hands,  as  your  authority  will  be  very  requisite 
to  arm  and  protect  them  against  the  keen  opposition  they  shall 
have  to  encounter.  For  this  purpose,  Madame,  you  are  duly 
warned  that  you  yourself  must  be  armed  and  fortified  from  on 
high,  in  order  not  to  flinch,  but  to  hold  on  to  the  end  in  your 
holy  enterprise.  When  you  shall  have  established  some  order, 
which  will  be  ere  long  I  hope,  I  very  humbly  entreat  you  to 
dispense  with  the  services  of  our  brother  Merlin,'  whose  ab- 
sence is  felt  by  us,  considering  the  smallness  of  our  numbers. 

For  the  rest,  Madame,  with  respect  to  the  sum  of  which  I 
have  given  you  information :  Here  is  how  the  matter  stands. 
The  late  king,  your  husband,  being  at  that  time  well  disposed 
to  the  cause,  and  seeing  himself  involved  in  considerable  em- 
barrassments, asked  us  if  we  could  afford  him  some  pecuniary 
relief.  I  bestirred  myself  so  effectually  that  he  was  promised, 
on  the  part  of  this  city,  forty  thousand  franks.  Before  they 
could  collect  them,  he  sent  to  Lyons  M.  de  Malligny,  now  Vi- 
dame  of  Chartres,  whom  he  ordered  to  send  him  twenty-five 
thousand  franks  for  certain  expenses  which  he  was  about  to 
incur,  of  which  I  despatched  ten  thousand  to  him  at  his  own 
request.  But  Avhen  the  time  came  round  for  the  payment,  I 
did  not  know  in  what  direction  to  turn  myself,  for  I  have  never 
been  a  man  of  finances,  and  I  can  assure  you,  Madame,  that  of 
the  little  I  possess,  which  is  almost  nothing,  I  would  willingly 
have  stripped  myself,  even  to  the  money  which  I  required  for 

'  He  returned  the  following  year  (15G4)  to  Geneva. 


320  BULLINGER.  [1563. 

the  purchase  of  my  daily  provisions.  But  thank  God,  at  last, 
the  contribution  was  completed,  which  the  late  king,  your  hus- 
band, who  had  not  yet  been  turned  aside  from  us,  promised  M. 
Beza  to  liquidate,  as  the  latter  can  certify.  Wherefore,  what 
I  say  about  it  is  not  in  order  to  be  reimbursed  of  even  one 
penny  which  I  contributed  of  my  own  money,  but  to  acquit 
myself  of  what  I  owe  my  friends  who  aided  me  in  this  strait, 
and  also  to  clear  up  my  honour.  Madame,  I  would  by  no 
means  importune  you  in  any  manner  whatever,  but  I  thought 
that  at  least  you  would  not  take  it  amiss  to  be  informed  of  the 
truth  of  the  fact,  in  order  to  take  such  steps  as  your  humanity 
shall  dictate,  and  as  you  shall  see  to  be  reasonable. 

Madame,  having  presented  my  very  humble  respects  to  your 
majesty,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  keep  you 
always  under  his  protection,  to  enrich  you  with  the  gifts  of  his 
Spirit,  and  increase  you  in  all  good  and  prosperity. 
[F7\  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCL.— To   BULLINGER.I 

Sufferings  of  Calvin — News  of  the  court  and  kingdom  of  France — Precautions  against 
the  Confession  of  Augsburg. 

Geneva,  2d  July,  1663. 

The  inconsiderateness  of  a  worthy  but  thoughtless  man  obliges 
me  to  dictate  these  words  in  a  hurry.     Being  about  to  send  his 

'  Rendered  incapable  of  writing  by  multiplied  sufferings,  Calvin  was  obliged  to 
resign  himself  not  without  regrets  to  the  necessity  of  dictating  his  letters.  His 
secretary,  Charles  de  Jonvillers,  assisted  from  that  time  in  the  occupations  of  his 
vast  correspondence,  as  he  himself  informs  us  in  an  affecting  letter  to  Bullinger: 
"  When  some  years  previously  I  saw  M.  Calvin  almost  succumbing  under  the  burden 
of  bis  correspondence,  yet  unwilling  to  employ  an  amanuensis,  I  entreated  him  to 
spare  himself,  and  added  that  his  letters  would  not  be  less  cherished,  though  written 
by  the  hand  of  another,  provided  thej'  were  signed  by  his  own  hand.  He  replied 
that  he  was  afraid  that  people  might  put  a  wrong  interpretation  upon  it,  or  think 
themselves  slighted,  if  he  did  not  write  letters  with  his  own  hand.  I,  in  my  turn, 
rejoined,  remarking  something  which  I  thought  to  the  purpose.  At  length,  he 
allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded,  so  that  now  be  makes  use  of  the  assistance  of  an- 
other."—(MSS.  of  Zurich,  10  Aug.,  1565.)  The  last  letters  of  Calvin  to  Bullinger  are 
all  in  the  handwriting  of  Charles  de  Jonvillers. 


1563.]  BULLINQER.  321 

sons  to  your  city  he  did  not  apprise  me  of  his  intention  till  the 
moment  of  their  departure.  At  present,  I  am  relieved  from 
very  acute  suffering,  having  been  delivered  of  a  calculus  about 
the  size  of  the  kernel  of  a  filbert.  As  the  retention  of  urine 
was  very  painful  to  me,  by  the  advice  of  my  physician,  I  got 
upon  horseback  that  the  jolting  might  assist  me  in  discharging 
the  calculus.  On  my  return  home  I  was  surprised  to  find  that 
I  emitted  discoloured  blood  instead  of  urine.  The  following 
day  the  calculus  had  forced  its  way  from  the  bladder  into  the 
urethra.  Hence  still  more  excruciating  tortures.  For  more 
than  half  an  hour  I  endeavoured  to  disengage  myself  from  it  by 
a  violent  agitation  of  my  whole  body.  I  gained  nothing  by 
that,  but  obtained  a  slight  relief  by  fomentations  with  warm 
water.  Meanwhile,  the  urinary  canal  was  so  much  lacerated 
that  copious  discharges  of  blood  flowed  from  it.  It  seems  to 
me  now  that  I  begin  to  live  anew  for  the  last  two  days  since  I 
am  delivered  from  these  pains. 

Of  the  state  of  France,  I  should  have  written  to  you  with 
more  details  if  I  had  been  at  leisure.  At  Lyons  the  churches 
have  been  restored  to  the  priests.  Four  only  have  been  left  to 
us,  of  which  one  was  obtained  by  craft,  and  under  a  false  pre- 
text. The  former  governor  of  the  city  has  been  recalled,  a 
man  of  a  peaceable  and  mild  character,  detested  by  the  Papists, 
because  he  is  favourable  to  us.  The  godly  are  everywhere  re- 
covering their  courage.  The  enemies  are  still  raising  distur- 
bances in  many  places,  and  their  fury  breaks  out  in  fires  and 
massacres.  It  will  proceed,  at  last,  to  such  lengths  that  even 
their  protectors  will  feel  that  they  are  implacable.  The  Consta- 
ble grows  milder  every  day.  Though  the  queen  caresses  the 
Prince  of  Cond^,  yet  the  versatile  and  crafty  woman  inspires 
us  with  but  very  little  or  no  confidence.  But  though  she  is  en- 
tirely destitute  of  sincerity,  she  would  nevertheless  comply  with 
the  prince,  if  she  saw  in  him  a  prudent  and  magnanimous  man. 
Though  the  Parliament  of  Paris  has,  at  length,  readmitted  those 
counsellors  who  had  taken  to  flight,  many  have  nevertheless 
abdicated  their  functions.  The  chancellor  is  much  off'ended  at 
that,  because  he  would  wish  to  see  in  it  as  many  persons  as  pos- 
siole  favourable  to  our  party.     lie  therefore  severely  represses 

41 


322  BULLINGER.  [1563. 

these  resignations  as  rmicli  as  it  depends  on  him.  The  Admiral 
hitherto  remains  quiet.  His  brother  is  at  court.  It  is  with 
great  difficulty  that  the  Constable  has  been  at  length  induced  to 
lead  an  army  against  the  English.  Either  the  faint-hearted- 
ness  and  cowardice  of  Cond^  outstrips  all  belief,  or  we  shall 
have  some  favourable  change  ere  long. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  honoured  brother.  May 
the  Lord  prosper  you  and  yours.  Carefully  salute  all  your  fel- 
low pastors.  My  colleagues,  who  are  now  present  with  me,  also 
salute  you.  I  have  retired  for  a  moment  from  their  society  to 
dictate  this  letter  to  you. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

I  am  carefully  on  the  watch  that  Lutheranism  gain  no  ground, 
nor  be  introduced  into  France.  The  best  means,  believe  me, 
for  checking  the  evil  would  be  that  the  confession  written  by  me 
in  the  name  of  the  Prince  of  Cond^  and  the  other  nobles  should 
be  published,'  by  which  Condd  would  pledge  his  good  faith  and 
reputation,  and  endeavour  to  draw  over  the  German  princes  to 
our  party.  I  am  waiting  for  his  answer.  The  Admiral  is  urg- 
ing him.  If  we  could  bring  people  to  subscribe  it,  this  proceed- 
ing would  procure  us  some  pleasant  sport.  Meanwhile,  the  con- 
dition of  the  churches  is  better  than  you  imagine.  They  are 
permitted  to  make  use  of  the  confession  presented  to  the  king, 
as  well  as  the  catechism.  In  one  word,  things  are  strangely 
mixed  up.  There  is  no  reason  to  fear,  however,  that  the  Pa- 
pists will  admit  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  should  it  be  offered 
to  them  a  hundred  times.  As  my  commentaries  on  Jeremiah 
will  be  published  about  the  time  of  the  next  fair,  I  have  re- 
solved to  dedicate  them  to  the  Prince  Palatine.  In  my  preface 
I  have  introduced  an  abstract  of  our  whole  controversy.  So 
there  is  no  doubt  Brentz  will  have  at  me. 

The  father  of  the  boys  who  will  deliver  to  you  this  letter 
begs  me  to  recommend  them  to  you.  But  he  does  not  wish  you 
to  be  put  to  any  inconvenience  on  their  account,  only  when  an 
opportunity  may  present  itself  he  would  be  delighted  if  you 

'  See  page  311. 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  323 

inquired  whether  thcj  behaved  modestly,  and  that  you  should 
make  it  your  business  that  they  be  kept  to  their  studies. 
[Lat.  On'g.  — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCLI. — To   BULLINGER. 

News  of  France — Reply  of  Coligny  and  Theodore  Beza  to  a  calumnious  accusation — 

Siege  of  Havre. 

Geneva,  19th  July,  1563. 

Since  I  wrote  to  you  we  have  heard  nothing  new  from  France, 
except  that  God  seems  to  turn  children's  sport  into  serious  ear- 
nest. The  Duke  of  Orleans,'  provoked  by  the  petulance  of  a 
child  of  the  Duke  of  Guise's,  struck  him  with  an  arrow  which 
he  held  in  his  hand.  The  boy  ran  immediately  to  his  mother, 
and  his  mother  to  the  queen,  who  advised  her  son  after  slightly 
reprimanding  him  to  pardon  young  Guise.  The  Duke  boldly 
replied,  that  he  could  never  bring  himself  to  endure  the  sight 
of  him,  and  that  not  only  he  detested  the  boy,  but  the  whole 
family  which  had  been  so  fatal  to  the  kingdom.  The  queen 
mother  was  thus  obliged  to  send  him  out  of  her  presence.  But 
at  Paris  she  encourages  and  inflames  the  furious  passions  of  the 
people.  Every  day  new  disturbances  are  breaking  out.  The 
Parliament  is  entirely  without  authority.  An  armed  rabble 
sets  aside  with  impunity  all  its  decisions.  This  is  a  very  just 
judgment,  that  where  robbers  govern,  licentiousness  should  pre- 
vail. Cond^  keeps  silence.  The  Admiral  makes  apologies, 
saying  he  prefers  remaining  at  home  and  waiting  for  a  favour- 
able opportunity  to  throw  himself  into  manifest  danger.  Since 
he,  the  Comte  de  Rochefoucaud  and  Bcza  have  had  their  attention 
called  to  the  assassin  of  Guise,  they  have  published  a  common 
defence  which  was  immediately  presented  to  the  king's  council.'^ 

'  Henry,  the  third  son  of  Henry  II.  and  Catherine  de  Medici,  afterwards  Duke  of 
Anjou,  and  king  under  the  name  of  Henry  III. 

"In  a  letter  of  Bcza's  to  Calvin  of  the  SIh  October,  1563,  are  the  following  words: 
That  tyrannicide  {rfpavvoKTouo;)  Poltrot,  in  his  trial,  and  even  amid  his  tortures  a 
hundred  times  declared  me  innocent  of  all  participation  in  the  murder  of  Guise.     Dis- 


324  THE   QUEEN   OF   NAVARRE.  [1563. 

But  because  all  men  had  not  sufficiently  got  over  their  scruples, 
the  Admiral  published  a  declaration.  If  there  is  any  good  trans- 
lator among  you,  it  would  be  very  desirable  that  it  were  pub- 
lished in  German  for  the  time  of  the  next  fair.  The  book 
would  be  salable,  so  there  would  be  no  fear  of  the  printer  sus- 
taining any  loss.  But  you  would  need  to  make  haste.  We 
entrust  the  affair  to  your  wisdom,  and  that  of  your  brethren. 
If  you  judge  it  expedient  that  it  should  be  brought  out,  perhaps 
some  means  of  doing  it  might  be  found  among  you.  All  things 
are  still  in  a  very  peaceable  state  at  Lyons.  The  priests  con- 
duct themselves  with  moderation  ;  nay,  fawn  upon  our  brethren. 
They  have  only  got  up  the  representation  of  one  mass  as  yet, 
and  that  too  on  a  profane  altar,  for  there  was  no  consecrated 
one.  At  Montpelier,  Nimes,  and  other  cities,  our  brethren  are 
still  in  possession  of  the  churches,  because  no  one  of  the  oppo- 
site party  ventures  to  claim  them.  In  Normandy,  Havre  de 
Grace,  which  the  English  have  occupied,  is  besieged.^  That  is 
all  I  have  to  add  for  the  present  to  my  former  news.  I  beg 
that  you  and  Gualter  would  superintend  the  publishing  of  the 
defence,  if  your  time  permit,  and  a  good  printer  undertake  it. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  respected  brother.  You 
will  salute  all  your  colleagues  in  my  name  and  that  of  my  bre- 
thren, and  your  own  family  at  the  same  time.  May  the  Lord 
stand  by  you,  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  bless  your  labours. 

Yours,  John  Calvin. 

\Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 

charged,  in  his  turn,  from  all  imputation,  Coligny  nevertheless  thought  it  necessary 
to  reply  by  a  public  declaration. — Memoires  de  Condi,  vol.  iv.,  p.  312. 

'  This  place  had  been  given  up  to  Elizabeth  by  the  Protestants.  They  repaired 
their  fault  in  assisting  the  Royal  army  to  recover  it.  Every  body  knows  the  bon  mot 
which  Brantome  lends  them  :  "  We  are  foolish  enough  to  take  Havre  from  the  Eng- 
lish." 


1563.]  BULLiNaER.  325 


DCLII. — To    BULUNGER. 

Disturbances  at  Bouen — Uncertainty    respecting  the  projects  of  Coligny — Calm  at 

Lyons. 

Geneva,  29^^  July,  1  663. 

I  know  nothing  worth  writing  about  except  that  the  inhabitants 
of  Rouen  vie  with  the  Parisians  in  audacity  and  perversity. 
One  of  the  marshals  was  therefore  sent  to  curb  their  fury,  and 
procure  our  brethren  some  security.  It  would  not  be  difficult  to 
remedy  all  these  disorders,  nay  they  would  disappear  of  them- 
selves, did  not  the  queen  by  her  clandestine  arts  foment  them. 
She  pretends  indeed  the  contrary ;  it  is  certain,  however,  that 
by  her  emissaries  she  is  acting  in  such  a  manner  as  will  enable 
worthless  men  to  render  by  their  profligacy  everything  unavail- 
ing that  has  been  publicly  decreed  in  the  council  of  the  king. 
Certes  the  impunity  allowed  to  crimes  sufficiently  demonstrates 
that  she  approves  of  everything  that  has  a  tendency  to  crush 
us.  What  the  Admiral  intends  I  know  not.  Yesterday  I  had 
a  letter  from  him  in  which  he  only  lets  Beza  and  myself  know 
that  very  soon  he  will  send  an  express  messenger  to  inform  us 
of  his  designs.  From  a  letter  of  Soubise,  who  I  conjecture  was 
along  with  him,  I  learn  that  he  still  keeps  away  from  court, 
partly  because  he  is  unwilling  uselessly  to  expose  himself  to 
danger,  and  partly  for  fear  he  should  be  forced  to  take  in  hand 
the  expedition  against  the  English.^  The  Comte  of  Lancy, 
Governor  of  Lyons,  with  whom  I  had  previously  no  intercourse, 
congratulates  me  on  the  tranquil  state  of  the  city.  But  in  the 
provinces  they  obstinately  refuse  to  admit  our  brethren.  In  the 
long  run  they  will  have  to  be  compelled  by  force  of  arms,  and 
despair  is  driving  them  on  to  reckless  courses. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  respected  brother.  Best 
respects  to  all  your  colleagues,  your  wife,  and  your  whole  family. 
May  the  Lord  preserve  you  all  in  safety. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

"Seep.  323. 


326  MONSIEUR   DE   CRUSSOL.  [1563. 

Your  friend  Jonvillers  respectfully  and  affectionately  salutes 
you. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCLIII. — To  Monsieur  de  Crussol.' 

Answer  to  some  scruples  expressed  by  this  seigneur. 

Geneva,  31*«  July,  1563. 

MoNSEiGNEUR : — The  person  whom  you  charged  to  propose 
to  me  the  scruples  which  you  desired  to  have  resolved  has  ac- 
quitted himself  of  his  commission.  Before  I  proceed  to  answer 
you,  I  thank  God  for  having  so  touched  your  heart  by  his  Spirit 
that  you  do  not  stretch  your  conscience  to  give  yourself  liberties 
as  so  many  others  do,  who  nevertheless  after  having  excused 
themselves  before  men  are  constrained  to  condemn  themselves 
before  God.  Now  to  come  to  the  point,  I  know  that  you  do  not 
mean  to  disguise  your  sentiments,  like  one  that  wishes  to  swim 
between  two  currents. 

You  only  ask  if  having  made  a  free  and  open  profession  of 
your  Christian  faith,  it  will  be  lawful  for  you  to  accompany  the 
queen  in  certain  processions  as  well  as  in  other  acts  of  idolatry. 
Whereupon,  Monseigneur,  you  have  to  consider  two  things :  first, 
not  to  grieve  the  children  of  God,  or  be  a  subject  of  scandal  to 
them,  or  disgust  the  infirm  or  ignorant ;  secondly,  not  to  give  an 
occasion  to  the  enemies  of  the  truth  to  raise  their  crests  and 
triumph,  nay,  not  even  to  furnish  them  a  pretext  for  opening 
their  mouths  to  blaspheme  the  name  of  God  and  turn  into 
ridicule  the  true  religion.  We  ought  to  be  carefully  attentive 
to  these  two  considerations,  as  they  are  also  strongly  recom- 

'  See  the  letter  p.  304.  Recalled  to  court  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace  this 
seigneur  seemed  to  incline  towards  a  public  profession  of  the  Protestant  faith,  as  is 
proved  by  the  scruples  which  he  submitted  to  Calvin,  and  the  directions  he  received 
from  him.  But  he  did  not  persevere  in  these  sentiments  and  died  a  Catholic.  D'Acier 
his  brother,  who  succeeded  him  in  1573  in  the  title  of  Duke  of  Uses,  long  persisted  in 
the  Reformed  confession,  which  he  nevertheless  abandoned  in  the  latter  years  of  his 
life. 


1563.]  MONSIEUR    DE    CRUSSOL.  327 

mended  to  us.  Since  then  the  Holy  Spirit  expressly  forbids 
you  to  grieve  your  brethren  in  this  respect,  reflect  how  many 
poor  people  there  will  be  cut  to  the  heart,  when  they  shall  see 
you  parading  with  a  band  marching  to  do  despite  unto  God. 
As  to  the  scandal  you  see  how  great  it  will  be,  and  bow  far  it 
will  extend.  For  many  will  shelter  themselves  under  your  ex- 
ample, even  the  hypocrites  who  till  now  have  been  ashamed  of 
their  cowardice  will  screen  themselves  under  your  shadow.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  you  will  make  proud 
the  ungodly,  not  only  to  despise  the  gospel,  but  also  to  harden 
themselves  in  their  cruelty  towards  those  who  shall  be  unwilling 
to  square  their  sails  to  the  wind.  In  one  word,  the  more  you 
shall  consider  all  the  circumstances,  the  more  you  will  conclude 
that  God  would  be  offended  in  divers  ways  by  such  conduct. 
There  remains  but  the  example  of  Naaman.  But  the  difference 
is  so  great  here  between  the  persons,  that  you  cannot  apply 
what  was  done  by  him  to  your  case. 

There  was  nobody  but  himself  in  the  land  of  Syria,  who  feared 
God  or  had  any  devotion  to  his  service,  wherefore  there  was  no 
danger  of  scandal.  No  true  believer  could  be  grieved  that  he 
had  exposed  to  disgrace  the  true  religion.  He  could  not 
turn  aside  those  who  were  already  in  the  good  way,  noi*"  dis- 
gust others  from  entering  upon  it.  On  the  contrary  he  irritated 
his  whole  nation  by  having  an  altar  apart  to  worship  the  God 
of  Israel.  The  main  point  here  is  not  to  adhere  to  the  literal 
fact,  but  to  consider  what  edification  is  to  be  derived  from  it. 
The  rest  is  to  see  if  for  that  you  should  rather  abandon  the 
state  than  not  show  complaisance  to  the  queen.  In  this  matter 
we  should  hold  by  the  rule  of  St.  Paul,  not  to  do  evil  that  good 
may  come  of  it.  I  see  very  well  what  advantages  may  accrue 
to  the  church  from  your  occupying  your  present  post,  and  what 
detriment  we  should  have  to  fear  if  you  gave  it  up.  But  in 
such  perplexities  we  should  do  God  the  honour  of  putting  full 
confidence  in  him,  trusting  that  he  will  know  how  to  provide  for 
everything. 

Nevertheless  it  seems  to  me  that  you  might  have  a  sufficiently 
feasible  excuse,  since  the  queen  is  not  ignorant,  that  according  to 
the  religion  you  hold,  you  cannot  mingle  in  their  ceremonies  with- 


328  THE    ADMIRAL    COLIGNY.  [1563. 

out  oiFending  God,  because  your  conscience  condemns  tliem.  What 
is  more,  I  trust  she  will  find  your  courageous  independence  pre- 
ferable to  a  mean  act  of  condescension.  For  she  has  suffered 
you  to  be  long  absent,  she  will  then  permit  you  to  be  ill  during 
three  days  in  the  year.  I  do  not  say  that,  however,  by  way  of 
cunning  artifice,  for  to  feign  illness  would  be  a  disgrace  to  the 
gospel.  When  you  shall  have  weighed  all  these  circumstances,  I 
doubt  not  but  you  will  conceive  with  St.  Paul,  that  we  cannot 
be  partakers  of  the  Lord's  supper,  and  show  ourselves  among 
idolatries,  especially  when  we  should  thus  set  a  bad  example. 
But  I  entreat  you,  Monseigneur,  to  quit  yourself  like  a  man, 
and  pray  God  to  strengthen  your  hands,  and  clothe  you  with 
the  armour  which  he  has  given  you,  to  do  battle  constantly,  that 
is,  to  exercise  yourself  diligently  in  his  word. 

Monseigneur,  having  presented  my  humble  commendations  to 
your  indulgent  favour  and  that  of  your  wife,  I  will  pray  the 
Father  of  mercies  to  have  you  in  his  keeping,  to  guide  you 
prosperously  and  grant  you  a  happy  arrival. 
Your  humble  servant, 

John  Calvin. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCLIV. — To  THE  Admiral  Coligny.' 

Communications  respecting  the  printing  of  a  memorial — Wishes  for  the  prompt  re- 
turn of  the  Admiral  to  the  court 

Geneva,  5th  July,  1563. 

Monseigneur  : — Having  received  your  letters  from  the  Seig- 
neur de  Verac,  we  readily  perceived  that  there  had  been  a  mis- 

'  On  the  back:  it  Monsieur  V  Amiral.  AVithout  the  date  of  the  year:  1563.  The 
attention  of  the  whole  of  Europe  was  occupied  during  several  months  by  the  process 
between  the  Guises  and  Coligny,  in  consequence  of  the  assassination  of  the  Duke  of 
Guise  at  Orleans.  This  crime,  the  work  of  a  fanatical  sectary  who  had  taken  counsel 
only  from  himself,  was  imputed  to  a  whole  party.  Poltrot  himself  in  his  interrogatory 
had  designated  the  Admiral  as  the  instigator  of  this  assassination,  but  he  continually 
varied  in  his  depositions,  and  made  a  solemn  retractation  before  his  death.  The  noble 
character  of  the  Admiral  should  have  set  him  above  all  such  suspicions.     He  thought 


1563.]  THE    ADMIRAL    COLIGNY,  329 

take  respecting  the  printing  of  your  reply.  But  the  excuse  is 
not  difficult,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned.  For  having  heard 
that  the  copy  which  you  sent  might  be  already  published,  and 
that  thus  any  diversity  might  have  been  found  bad,  though  the 
advertisement  came  very  late,  nevertheless  we  put  off  till  we 
had  letters  from  you  in  which  you  made  no  objection,  and  thus 
we  thought  that  your  intention  was  that  we  should  not  mind  it. 
So  we  proceeded.  Now,  since  the  arrival  of  the  Seigneur  de 
Verac,  we  could  do  nothing  better  than  to  prepare  actively  for 
having  the  said  answer  translated  into  Latin  and  German.  We 
thought  it  preferable  to  defer  printing  in  French  the  copy  which 
he  has  brought  us  till  the  return  of  our  messenger.  At  present, 
we  shall  use  dispatch  that  you  may  be  satisfied  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. There  is  one  evil  more,  which  is,  that  a  part  of  the  first 
impression  was  sold.     The  rest  shall  be  kept  locked  up. 

We  are  very  sorry  the  journey  of  the  Comte'  has  been  re- 
tarded, because  it  was  very  desirable  that  he  should  arrive  at 
court.  But  we  see  very  well  that  he  had  good  reasons  for  his 
conduct,  in  order  not  to  expose  himself  to  danger,  and  also  to 
sound  people's  dispositions  of  mind  which  were  uncertain.  If 
the  answer  is  such  as  we  desire,  it  will  contribute  greatly  both 
to  his  safety  and  your  own,  and  will  prepare  the  Avay  for  your 
adopting  some  more  certain  decision. 

Touching  the  Cardinal's  hat,'^  we  know  very  well  that  it  is  not 
a  thing  of  such  importance  as  many  people  would  make  it.  But 
you  are  aware  we  cannot  altogether  exculpate  him,  nor  under- 

it  his  duty,  nevertheless,  to  reply  by  a  public  declaration  to  these  calumnious  impu- 
tations spread  about  by  bis  enemies.  It  is  the  answer  of  which  the  Reformer  makes 
mention  and  which  one  may  read:  Hist.  EocL,  vol.  ii.,  p.  291,  and  the  following. 
Printed  at  Paris  and  Geneva,  translated  into  Latin  and  German,  this  piece  was  dis- 
seminated all  over  Europe. 

'  Francis,  Comte  de  Rochofoucaud,  and  de  Roucy,  Prince  of  Marsillae,  one  of  the 
principal  chiefs  of  the  Protestant  party.  Incriminated  like  the  Admiral,  then  excul- 
pated in  the  depositions  of  Poltrot,  he  perished  like  him  in  the  massacre  of  St.  Bar- 
tholomew. 

'Allusion  to  Odet  de  Coligny,  Cardinal  of  Chatillon.  After  his  conversion  to  the 
Reformed  faith  this  prelate  had  laid  aside  the  name  and  dress  of  his  ecclesiastical 
dignity,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Comte  de  Beauvais.  Excommunicated  by  the  Pope, 
bo  put  on  the  costume  of  a  Cardinal  in  great  ceremonies,  to  show  his  contempt  for 
the  Pontifical  censures.  He  went  farther  still,  lie  married,  and  wore  his  Cardinal's 
dress  on  hi?  marriajjc  day. 
42 


330  THE    ADMIRAL    COLIGNY.  [1563. 

take  the  defence  of  his  cause,  as  really  in  conscience  we  can- 
not help  saying  that  there  was  a  certain  degree  of  levity  in  his 
conduct  in  that  matter.  It  will  be  sufficient,  we  think,  if  some 
persons  should  be  too  violently  offended  at  it,  to  moderate  their 
zeal  and  humble  a  little  those  who  should  make  war  on  him  for 
that  reason,  so  that  without  approving  the  deed  we  may  show 
them  that  it  is  pardonable,  and  that  we  should  not  cease  to  esteem 
him,  as  he  deserves,  the  less  on  that  account.  As  for  yourself, 
we  thank  God  that  you  have  resolved  to  go  to  court  as  soon  as 
the  Comte  shall  have  arrived  there  and  informed  you  that  you 
run  no  risk,  for  we  have  learned  by  your  absence  from  it  how 
profitable  it  would  have  been  had  you  always  remained  there. 
It  seems  even  that  every  thing  must  go  from  bad  to  worse  if 
God  do  not  speedily  prevent  it,  which  we  trust  he  will  do  by 
means  of  you.  Thus  persuaded  that  he  has  reserved  you  for 
this  purpose,  we  entreat  you  most  earnestly  not  to  let  slip  any 
opportunity.  For  your  presence,  at  any  rate,  will  impose  upon 
your  enemies. 

Touching  the  alliance,  we  defer  to  another  time  to  speak  of 
it,  for  at  the  present  moment  you  could  not  undertake  any  thing 
on  that  subject. 

Monseigneur,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  we  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  keep  you 
under  his  protection,  to  fortify  you  by  his  power,  and  increase 
you  in  all  prosperity. 

Your  humble  servants, 

John  Calvin — Theodore  Beza.' 

[Fr.  Orig.  Autog. — Library  of  Paris,  Bethune,  8702,  p.  76.] 
•  The  name  of  Beza  is  in  Calvin's  handwriting. 


1563.]  MADAME    DE    COLIGNY.  831 


DCLV. — To  Madame  de  Coliqny.' 

The  Christian  uses  of  sickness. 

Geneva,  5th  August,  156.3. 

Madame  : — That  m  j  letters  were  sent  off  without  having  my 
signature  affixed  to  them  did  not  occur  so  much  from  any  stu- 
pidity or  negligence  of  mine  as  from  the  too  great  haste  of  M. 
Beza,  who  took  them  from  me  while  I  was  ill,  and  without  look- 
ing whether  they  were  signed  and  dated,  folded  them  up  and 
put  them  in  the  parcel.  But  it  is  enough  that  you  know  whence 
they  came,  for  my  handwriting  would  scarcely  have  added  any 
thing  to  their  gracious  reception.  However,  another  time  I  will 
pay  more  attention.  For  the  rest,  Madame,  I  thank  God  who 
has  put  you  in  the  way  of  recovery  from  an  illness  which  we 
had  great  reason  to  fear  might  have  been  mortal,  although  I 
confess  I  had  no  inquietudes  on  that  score.  Nevertheless,  I 
did  not  fail  to  have  you  in  remembrance,  for  it  is  but  just  that 
both  the  Admiral  and  yourself  should  be  objects  of  the  deepest 
interest  to  all  true  servants  of  God,  in  the  number  of  whom  I 
hope  to  be  reckoned,  though  I  am  more  than  unworthy  of  that 
honour.  You  know,  Madame,  how  we  should  turn  to  our  pro- 
fit both  the  chastisements  we  receive  from  the  hand  of  our  mer- 
ciful Father  and  the  succour  which  he  sends  in  time  of  need.  It 
is  certain  that  all  diseases  ought  not  only  to  humble  us  in  set- 
ting before  our  eyes  our  frailty,  but  also  cause  us  to  look  into 
ourselves,  that  having  recognized  our  own  poverty  we  may  place 
all  our  trust  in  his  mercy.  They  should,  moreover,  serve  us  for 
medicines  to  purge  us  from  worldly  affections,  and  retrench  what 
is  superfluous  in  us,  and  since  they  are  to  us  the  messengers  of 
death,  we  ought  to  learn  to  have  one  foot  raised  to  take  our  de- 
parture when  it  shall  please  God.  Nevertheless,  he  lets  us 
taste  of  his  bounty  as  often  as  he  delivers  us  from  them,  just  as 
it  has  been  a  most  salutary  thing  for  you,  Madame,  to  have 

'  Written   at  the  same  time  as  the  preceding,  after  a  serious  illness  of  Madame 
TAinirale. 


332  THE    COMTESSB   DE   SENINaHEN.  [1563. 

known  the  danger  in  which  you  were  and  from  which  he  has  deli- 
vered you.  It  remains  for  you  to  conclude  with  St.  Paul  that 
when  we  have  been  delivered  from  many  deaths  by  his  hand,  he 
will  also  withdraw  us  from  them  in  time  to  come.  And  thus 
take  courage,  so  much  the  more  to  give  yourself  up  to  his  ser- 
vice, as  you  do  well  to  consider  that  it  is  to  that  end  he  has  re- 
served you.  I  am  very  glad  that  the  Admiral  thinks  of  going 
to  court,  on  the  first  occasion  that  will  present  itself.  I  hope 
that  this  journey  will  be  productive  of  much  good,  and  in  divers 
ways,  and  we  pray  God  also  to  make  it  prosper. 

Madame,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indul- 
gent favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  keep  you 
always  under  his  protection,  to  enrich  you  with  his  spiritual 
gifts,  and  to  conduct  you  always,  in  order  that  his  name  may 
be  glorified  in  you. 

[Fr.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCLVI. — To   THE    COMTESSE    DE    SeNINGHEN.' 

He  exhorts  her  to  show  herself  firm  in  the  profession  of  the  faith  and  patient  in 

atSiction. 

Geneva,  28fA  Augnat,  1663, 

Madame  : — Though  T  have  never  written  to  you  hitherto,  it 
was  not  for  want  of  devotedness  to  occupy  myself  in  doing  you 
a  service.  I  have  you  also  in  remembrance  before  God,  as  my 
duty  requires.  But  because  my  letters  cannot  much  benefit 
you,  and  my  brother  M.  Beza,  moreover,  can  amply  discharge 
his  own  duty  and  mine  too  towards  you,  I  have  put  off  writing 
to  you.  But,  at  last,  fearing  that  I  might  be  too  neglectful,  I 
have  resolved  to  defer  doing  so  no  longer. 

Now,  Madame,  I  thank  God,  in  the  first  place,  for  the  con- 

'  Franeoise  d'Amboise,  wife  of  Charles  de  Croi,  Comte  of  Seninghen,  and  mother 
of  Prince  Poreien  and  of  the  Marquis  de  Reuel  deserves  a  place  beside  the  Comtesse 
de  Roye,  the  Marchioness  of  Rothelin,  and  Madame  I'Amirale  de  Coligny,  among  the 
illustrious  ladies  of  the  Reformation  in  France.  She  died  in  1565.  The  Marquis  de 
Reuel,  the  eldest  of  her  sons,  was  in  the  number  of  the  victims  of  the  St.  Bartholo- 
mew. 


1563.]  THE    COMTESSE   DE   SENINGHEN.  333 

stancy  he  has  bestowed  on  you  wliich  has  kept  you  from  being 
shaken  by  the  troubles  which  have  taken  place  in  France. 
By  your  perseverance  you  have  shown  that  your  faith  was 
well  grounded,  and  had  taken  such  deep  root  as  not  to  be  im- 
paired. You  have  still  to  take  courage  for  the  future,  for 
though  the  assaults  are  not  so  rude  as  those  we  have  witnessed, 
the  devil  has  many  Avays  of  turning  aside  the  children  of  God 
from  the  right  path,  were  it  but  the  bad  examples  with  which 
we  are  surrounded  on  all  sides.  Several  are  fickle,  some  alto- 
gether profane;  some  become  lukewarm,  others  are  fond  of 
luxury,  and  others  again  give  themselves  up  to  a  dissolute  man- 
ner of  life.  In  a  word,  everywhere  we  meet  with  stumbling- 
blocks.  For  that  reason,  you  have  the  more  need  to  be  ever  on 
the  watch,  and  to  fortify  yourself,  so  that  you  may  be,  as  it 
vrere,  a  mirror  to  bring  back  to  the  good  way  those  who  are  in 
train  to  stray  from  it. 

In  the  mean  time,  I  hear  that  God  exercises  you  in  order  that 
you  may  put  your  patience  in  practice,  and  place  your  life  en- 
tirely in  his  hands,  for  as  much  as  you  are  weak  in  body  and 
afflicted  with  many  diseases,  of  which  I  too  have  my  share  to 
exercise  me  in  the  same  manner.  But  however  that  may  be, 
we  have  great  cause  to  be  satisfied  that  in  our  languishing  we 
are  supported  by  the  strength  of  God's  Spirit,  and  moreover, 
that  if  this  corruptible  tabernacle  is  falling  to  decay,  we  know 
that  we  shall  be  very  soon  restored,  once  and  for  ever.  But 
however  that  may  be,  we  have  occasion  to  know  better  the  value 
of  the  gospel,  and  that  there  is  no  repose  nor  satisfaction  for 
us  in  this  world. 

Madame,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  indulgent 
favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  fortify  you  by 
his  power,  to  keep  you  under  his  protection,  and  increase  you 
in  all  good  and  prosperity. 

[  Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


334  BULLINGER.  [1568. 


DCLVII.— To    BULLINGER. 

Taking  of  Havre  from  the  English — Majority  of  King  Charles  IX. — Movements  of 
the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

Geneva,  9th  September,  1563. 

If  your  neighbours'  make  so  much  ado  and  utter  such  vaunts, 
I  am  surprised  that  you  make  yourselves  weary  at  such  trifles 
which  are  rather  matter  of  contempt,  not  deserving  that  we 
should  attach  any  real  importance  to  them.  For  in  what  place 
they  displayed  those  warlike  arts  of  theirs  is  a  thing  quite  un- 
known in  France.  Two  companies  had  been  placed  in  garrison 
at  Orleans.  Our  men  wakened  up  some  drowsy  fellows  among 
them,  but  without  effusion  of  blood.  Up  to  this  moment  they 
have  remained  there  very  peaceably.  At  present,  their  most 
active  exploits  consist  in  preying  on  the  provisions  of  the  vil- 
lages, on  which  they  pounce  like  so  many  starving  thrushes. 
Those  who  were  at  the  siege  of  Havre  de  Grace,  rendered  more 
prudent  by  their  former  check,  have  not  ventured  within  the 
reach  of  missiles.  The  French,  who  had  shown  more  courage, 
were  vigorously  repulsed,  and  when  they  had  opened  their 
trenches  a  great  quantity  of  water  was  let  out  by  the  English 
which  cut  them  off  from  the  main  body.  There  was  then  a 
great  slaughter  of  them,  and  from  that  time  they  confined  them- 
selves to  the  bombardment,  till  their  powder  failed.  The  Eng- 
lish not  being  aware  of  that  fact  were  forced  to  surrender.  At 
present,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  war  is  about  to  break 
out  afresh,  for  by  both  parties  envoys  have  been  detained  prison- 
ers, contrary  to  the  law  of  nations.  That  is  the  reason  why 
your  neighbours  are  blowing  their  trumpet  so  lustily  about  their 
own  feats.  Our  men  are  not  in  the  least  alarmed  about  the 
troops  which  you  remind  us  are  being  levied  at  Luzerne. 
After  all,  they  may  be  arming  against  the  enemy.  For  the 
king's  council  do  not  approve  of  soldiers  being  enlisted  in  Ger- 
many at  their  expense,  and  they  are  strictly  forbidden  to  pro- 

'  The  Catholic  cantons  which  furnished  the  King  of  France  with  his  best  troops. 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  335 

ceed  any  further  in  such  measures,  A  conspiracy,  also,  lias 
been  detected  which  infringes  upon  their  authority. .  Mean- 
while, the  queen  is  straining  every  nerve  to  have  the  majority 
of  her  son  pronounced,  though  he  has  scarcely  completed  his 
thirteenth  year.  He  has  himself,  however,  proclaimed  his 
majority  in  the  Parliament  of  Rouen,  and  that  by  the  advice  of 
his  mother  and  the  nobles,  among  whom  his  brother  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  a  boy  eleven  years  old,  is  reckoned  the  first.  You 
see  into  what  a  ridiculous  mockery  the  lustre  of  that  ancient 
kingdom  has  degenerated.  For  though  there  are  seven  supreme 
courts  of  Parliament  in  France,  six  of  them  have  been  erected 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  taking  cognizance  of  causes  connected 
with  the  administration  of  justice.  That  of  Paris  alone  has  been 
in  the  habit  of  deciding  questions  that  embrace  the  general  in- 
terests of  the  kingdom.  But  if  anything  is  to  be  settled  in  a 
reasonable  manner,  it  will  be  necessary  to  convoke  an  assembly 
of  the  states  general  of  the  three  orders.  But  whatever  be  done 
the  king  even  in  despite  of  nature  will  be  declared  major,  nor 
will  he  obtain  the  dispensation  of  age  from  any  other  than  from 
himself — a  dispensation  which  the  laws  teach  is  only  to  be  con- 
ceded to  others  at  the  good  pleasure  of  the  prince. 

As  soon  as  he  shall  have  made  his  entry  into  the  city,  it  ha? 
been  resolved  to  put  some  restraint  on  the  madness  of  the 
tumultuous  populace.  The  Constable  unflinchingly  defends  tjje 
edict  which  confers  liberty  on  our  churches,  guaranties  security 
to  them,  and  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  edict  ought  to  be 
maintained  intact.  Respecting  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  I 
see  no  reason  for  our  feeling  any  great  uneasiness.  It  will  be 
obtruded  on  us  in  vain,  for  no  one  of  the  Papists  will  admit  its 
claims,  and  our  brethren  firmly  reject  it.  We  are  nevertheless 
making  the  most  strenuous  cflForts,  and  we  shall  continue  to 
make  them  lest  any  detriment  should  arise  from  our  negligence. 
But  what  are  you  about  in  the  meantime?  Your  senate  consults 
privately  its  own  interests  according  to  its  wonted  manner,  and 
imagines  that  its  authority  will  remain  unimpaired,  though  all 
others  should  go  to  ruin.  Excuse  me  if  I  express  myself  rather 
harshly,  because  hitherto  they  have  not  shown  any  tokens  of 
that  solicitude  which  the  necessity  of  the  times  so  imperiously 


336  BULLINGER.  [1563. 

demanded.  The  Bernese  in  their  deliberations  are  certainly 
complaining  that  they  have  never  manifested  any  zeal  for  the 
public  safety. 

If  the  three  balliages  are  now  restored  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,' 
hemmed  in  on  every  side  and  far  from  alt  auxiliaries,  we  shall 
easily  fall  a  prey  to  our  enemies.  For  the  Duke  will  not  re- 
main satisfied  with  this  acquisition,  and  will  not  hesitate  to  re- 
cover that  part  which  will  afford  him  the  most  favourable 
opportunity  for  making  war.  But  though  we  are  brought  into 
the  greatest  danger,  I  do  not  demand  of  you  to  take  our  case 
into  consideration,  but  only  to  take  into  account  the  common 
danger.  Again,  excuse  me  if,  till  your  fellow  citizens  conduct 
themselves  otherwise,  I  shall  consider  them  to  have  no  more 
fellow  feeling  with  our  misfortunes  than  so  many  blocks.  But 
God  suffers  us  to  be  abandoned  of  men,  that  we  may  learn  to 
divert  our  thoughts  to  himself  and  keep  them  fixed  upon  him 
alone. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  respected  brother.  May 
the  Lord  long  preserve  you  in  safety,  continue  to  direct  you  by 
his  Spirit,  and  bless  your  labours.  Salute  very  kindly  all  your 
colleagues. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

Your  devoted  friend  Jonvillers  respectfully  and  affectionately 
salutes  you. 

[Lat.  Orig. — Arch,  of  Zurich,  Gallicana  Scripta,  p.  55.] 

•  Viz.,  the  territory  conquered  by  the  Seigneurs  of  Berne  from  Savoy,  in  1536,  and 
the  territory  contiguous  to  the  southern  banks  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva. 


1563.]  THE    PRINCE    OF    COXDE.  331 


DCLVIII. — To  THE  Prince  of  Conde.' 

Request  concerning  the  publication  of  a  confession  of  faith — Blame  of  the  gallantries 

of  the  prince. 

Geneva,  17th  September,  1563. 

MoNSEiGNEUR : — Already  we  entreated  you  long  ago  to  deign 
to  inform  us  of  your  good  pleasure  touching  the  confession  which 
had  been  drawn  up  during  the  war,  in  order  to  shut  the  mouths 
of  your  enemies,  who  by  their  calumnies  made  people  believe 
whatever  they  chose.  The  person  who  drew  it  up  had  not  put 
himself  forward  from  any  caprice  of  his  own,  but  had  been  duly 
required  and  solicited  by  M.  d'Andelot,  who  being  at  that  time 
in  Germany  knew  how  necessary  and  useful  such  a  remedy 
would  be. 

Now  at  that  time  this  confession  was  addressed  to  you,  but 
the  communications  being  interrupted  we  could  not  have  an 
answer  whether  you  would  approve  of  its  being  printed,  which 
we  should  never  have  thought  of  attempting  without  your  per- 
mission. Since  then,  we  have  been  persuaded  and  convinced  by 
valid  reasons  that  the  present  time  is  quite  as  opportune  as  ever 
for  such  a  measure.  We  know  not  from  what  cause  it  happens 
that  we  have  never  been  made  acquainted  with  your  good  plea- 
sure, but  we  suppose  indeed  that  amid  the  pressure  of  so  many 
affairs  this  matter  may  have  dropped  from  your  recullcction. 
At  present  we  are  obliged,  Monseigneur,  to  refresh  your  memory, 
and  if  need  be  to  importune  you  respecting  it.  For  we  have 
been  informed  that  the  Duke  of  Wirtemberg  has  had  a  catechism 
translated  into  French,  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  confuting 
the  doctrine  which  we  hold  respecting  the  Lord's  supper.  We 
foresee  many  objections  which  it  will  be  necessary  to  obviate. 
We  have  no  doubt  but  he  will  make  you  a  present  of  it,  if  he  has 
not  already  done  so,  in  order  to  induce  you  to  renounce  that 

'  See  the  letters  pp.  212,  309,  as  well  as  the  notes  concerning  the  intrigues  of  the 
Ultra-Lutheran  party  in  Germany  to  impose  on  the  Reformed  churches  of  France  the 
Cuufession  of  Augsburg. 

43 


838  THE    PRINCE    OF    CONDE.  [1563. 

pure  simplicity  in  which  you  have  beeij  instructed.  If  he  cannot 
succeed,  as  we  are  indeed  convinced  that  he  will  be  disappointed 
in  that  respect,  his  design  is  to  set  at  defiance  this  man  and  that 
man,  everybody  in  short,  in  order  to  render  the  faith  which  you 
possess  odious.  He  will  pretend  also  to  gain  over  some,  to  stir 
up  animosities,  and  array  one  party  against  the  other.  Now  it 
seems  to  us  that  you  can  find  no  remedy  more  effectual  against 
such  evils  than  to  publish  a  confession,  both  to  cut  short  his  in- 
trigues and  humble  by  your  constancy  the  impertinence  of  those 
Avho  might  think  of  intimidating  you  under  such  pretexts.  It 
will  also  have  the  efi"ect  of  instructing  the  ignorant,  and  putting 
a  stop  to  the  blasphemies  with  which  you  should  be  chargeable 
were  your  cause  not  known.  You  cannot  imagine,  Monseigneur, 
what  advantages  would  accrue  from  it  to  Germany.  It  is  even 
possible  that  he  who  thinks  of  making  a  proselyte  of  you  will  be 
caught  tripping  and  converted  in  his  turn.  The  opportunity  is 
the  finest  in  the  world  for  paying  him  off  in  his  OAvn  coin,  since 
it  was  he  who  gave  the  first  invitation.  Wherefore  we  entreat 
you  to  send  us  word  what  we  shall  have  to  do,  for  the  moment 
we  have  the  watchword,  we  shall  not  fail  to  make  all  diligence. 
We  give  you  a  sure  address,  Mr.  Aubr^e  Lyons.  He  is  one  of 
your  faithful  servants.  Besides  that  the  copy  has  been  twice 
sent  to  you,  and,  we  doubt  not,  read  and  approved  by  you,  you 
may  consult  the  opinion  of  the  Cardinal  de  Chatillon  to  confirm 
more  thoroughly  your  own  judgment. 

For  the  rest,  Monseigneur,  we  cannot  let  pass  this  opportunity 
of  beseeching  you  in  general  not  only  to  take  under  your  pro- 
tection the  cause  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  so  that  the  course 
of  the  gospel  may  be  advanced  and  the  poor  followers  of  God 
left  in  peace  and  security,  but  also  that  you  would  testify  by 
your  whole  life  that  you  have  profited  by  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion, and  that  your  example  may  tend  to  edify  the  good  as  well 
as  shut  the  mouths  of  all  gainsayers.  For  being  raised  to  such 
pre-eminent  rank,  just  as  you  are  an  object  of  contemplation 
from  afar,  so  ought  you  to  beware  that  men  find  nothing  to 
blame  in  your  conduct.  You  cannot  doubt,  Monseigneur,  but 
that  we  cherish  your  honour,  almost  as  much  as  we  desire  your 
salvation.     Now  we  should  be  traitors  to  you  if  we  left  you  in 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  339 

ignorance  of  the  rumours  that  fly  about.  We  do  not  believe 
that  at  bottom  there  is  any  evil  in  your  conduct  or  that  God  is 
directly  offended  by  it ;  but  when  we  are  told  that  you  are  making 
love  to  ladies,  we  think  that  this  greatly  derogates  from  your 
authority  and  reputation.  Good  men  will  be  grieved,  and  the 
malicious  and  ill-intentioned  will  laugh  at  it.  There  is  also  in 
that  dissipation  something  which  prevents  you  from  attending 
to  your  duty,  or  at  least  retards  you  in  the  accomplishment  of 
it.  Nay,  it  is  possible  that  in  all  this  there  may  be  a  portion 
of  worldly  vanity,  and  you  should  especially  take  care  that  the 
light  which  God  has  set  within  you  be  not  dimmed  or  ex- 
tinguished. 

We  trust,  Monseigneur,  that  this  admonition  you  will  take 
in  good  part,  when  you  reflect  how  very  useful  it  may  be  to 
you. 

Your  very  humble  brethren, 

John  Calvin,  Theodore  Beza. 
[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Paris,  Dupv.y.     Vol.102.] 


DCLIX.— To    BULLINGER. 

News  of  France — Humiliation  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris  and  of  the  Guises — False 
news  of  the  death  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

Geneva,  20th  October,  1563. 

There  is  nothing  changed  in  the  state  of  France  since  I 
wrote  to  you,'  except  that  the  Parisians  are  every  day  more  and 
more  abating  their  arrogant  presumption.  First  the  Parliament 
is  crushed,  or  at  least  tamed  by  a  decree  of  the  king.  Next 
measures  have  been  taken  with  the  population  of  the  city.  As 
a  very  bad  precedent  indeed,  all  the  acts  of  the  Parliament  have 

'  In  the  letter  which  is  here  alluded  to,  we  remark  the  following  passage  :  "  The 
affairs  of  France  are  still  perplexed.  The  Parisians  have  abated  in  some  degree  their 
obstinacy,  but  the  king  who  had  almost  approached  their  walls  has  directed  his  course 
elsewhere.  The  queen  mother  protends  to  mediate  between  the  parties,  but  many 
tokens  of  her  perfidy  are  remarked.  The  Chancellor  is  liberal  as  usual  in  iiis  edicts, 
but  few  obey  them.  Unless  the  queen  speedily  come  to  a  rupture  with  the  Guises, 
formidable  convulsions  will  again  break  out."     Letter  of  the  3Uth  Septouiber.  15(i3. 


340  '  BULLINGER.  [1563. 

been  rescinded,  and  whatever  dignity  resided  in  that  body  has 
been  abrogated.  I  am  very  sorry  for  my  part  that  by  an 
arbitrary  order  and  almost  in  a  despotic  manner,  that  authority 
has  been  overthrown  which  has  flourished  for  upwards  of  two 
centuries,  for  it  was  expedient  that  there  should  be  an  inter- 
mediate power  to  impose  some  restraint  on  royal  decrees.  But 
on  the  present  occasion  all  the  counsellors  were  compelled  to  be 
present,  and  with  open  doors  the  sentence  was  pronounced  which 
brands  them  with  infamy.  For  nothing  could  be  more  dis- 
graceful than  that  all  the  acts  in  which  they  had  exceeded  the 
bounds  of  moderation  should  be  torn  up  in  their  presence,  and 
themselves  strictly  enjoined  not  to  dare  to  attempt  anything 
similar  in  future.  The  king  himself  contumeliously  received 
the  messengers  whom  they  repeatedly  sent  to  him.  By  terror 
then  they  were  all  reduced  to  obedience.  The  ferocity  of  that 
turbulent  populace  being  now  subdued,  others  will  cease  to  breed 
disturbances. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  provinces  have  received  severe  in- 
junctions not  to  retard  any  longer  or  throw  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  the  execution  of  the  edicts.  The  Guises  also  have  been 
bridled,  nor  indeed  did  they  dare  to  interpose  while  the  king 
menaced,  for  the  Admiral  was  present  with  superior  forces. 
Hope  has  again  shone  out  on  us,  as  far  at  least  as  evil  broils  are 
concerned ;  but  that  plague  spreads  itself  to  an  incredible  degree 
in  Gascony  and  over  the  whole  tract  of  the  Loire.  It  has  not 
yet  gained  Lyons.  Twenty-five  battalions  had  been  dispatched, 
who  were  to  halt  on  their  march  till  news  was  brought  of  the 
death  of  our  neighbour,  who  now,  however,  is  reported  to  have 
recovered.  He  has  not  yet  proclaimed  w^ar  on  the  Bernese.  I 
will  not  wrangle  with  you  for  excusing  the  conduct  of  your  fellow 
citizens — Godwhoisa  just  judge  will  lend  an  ear  to  our  complaints. 
If,  however,  you  inquire  more  carefully,  you  will  learn  that  your 
deputies,  after  they  had  fulfilled  the  object  of  their  instructions, 
gave  their  aid  more  strenuously  to  the  cause  than  the  citizens 
of  Lucerne.  We  shall  hold  our  peace  till  an  opportunity  invite 
us  to  speak.  For  having  obtained  from  your  senate  for  worthy 
men  the  thing  which  they  demanded,  I  return  you  thanks  both 
in  my  own  name  and  in  theirs. 


1563.]  MERCER.  341 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  venerable  brother.  May 
the  Lord  preserve  you  in  safety,  sustain  you  by  his  power,  and 
bless  your  labours.  Best  respects  to  your  fellow  pastors,  your 
wife,  and  your  whole  family. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

Your  devoted  friend  Jonvillers  respectfully  and  affectionately 
salutes  you. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCLX.— To  Mercer.' 

New  proposals  of  a  chair  in  the  Academy  of  Geneva. 

Geneva,  2Zd  October,  1563. 

I  could  have  wished,  when  I  called  you  hither  two  years  ago, 
that  your  engagements  had  permitted  you  not  to  hesitate  in 
conferring  your  services  upon  our  church  and  school.  But  it 
was  not  so  disagreeable  for  me  at  that  time  to  be  disappointed 
in  my  expectations,  as  it  has  been  matter  of  sorrow  and  regret 
since,  that  in  the  miserable  dispersion  which  has  taken  place  at 
Paris,  you  have  been  excluded  from  your  functions  of  teaching. 
It  was  certainly  a  laborious  and  modest  situation  to  which  I 
called  you.  In  one  respect,  however,  you  formed  a  false  esti- 
mate of  it,  when  you  felt  convinced  that  your  labours  would  be 
more  useful  and  productive  of  greater  results  on  a  celebrated 
theatre  than  in  this  obscure  corner.  For  though  the  number 
of  students  is  small,  yet  you  would  have  found  among  them 
pupils  to  whose  advancement  it  would  have  given  you  much 
satisfaction  to  contribute,  and  if  you  repair  here,  as  I  hope,  you 
will  see  that  the  field  was  by  no  means  to  be  despised.  But 
since  those  calamitous  events  which  have  so  suddenly  fallen  out 

'  See  vol.  iii.  p.  412.  Always  attentive  to  the  development  of  the  Academy,  Calvin 
never  allowed  an  opportunity  to  escape  of  attracting  to  Geneva  the  most  distinguished 
professors.  Mercer  did  not  respond  to  this  second  appeal,  but  he  called  Calvin's 
attention  to  the  learned  Matthew  Beroald,  the  nephew  of  Vatable  and  professor  at 
Orleans. 


342  MERCER.  [1563. 

and  ruined  everything  at  Paris,  I  have  been  much  astonished 
that  you  have  sought  for  a  retreat  elsewhere  than  among  us,  for 
never  woukl  you  have  found  a  more  tranquil  nor  a  more  suitable 
position.  And  in  truth  I  should  never  have  delayed  so  long  to 
write  to  you,  if  I  could  have  guessed  in  what  quarter  of  the 
world  my  letter  would  reach  you.  Now  that  a  friend  has 
pledged  himself  that  he  will  find  a  means  of  having  it  delivered  to 
you,  it  would  have  been  an  act  of  unpardonable  negligence  on 
my  part  to  delay  any  longer.  For  hei'e  a  task  awaits  you  which 
I  think  you  ought  to  prefer  to  any  other,  even  if  you  were  at 
liberty  to  choose.  But  now  that  God  has  detached  you  from 
the  spot  with  which  you  fancied  yourself  indissolubly  connected, 
why  you  should  delay  one  moment,  or  why  you  should  not  im- 
mediately on  the  receipt  of  this  decide  upon  what  public  utility 
demands  of  you,  I  can  see  no  reason  whatever.  It  would  be 
difficult  for  me  to  explain  to  you  minutely  all  the  details  of  this 
aflfair,  but  if  my  entreaties  have  any  influence  with  you,  I  beg 
and  beseech  you  that  you  let  us  obtain  this  favour  at  least  of 
you.  For  at  the  present  moment  I  plead  for  nothing  else  but 
that  you  will  become  one  of  us  until  the  necessities  of  your  duty 
may  call  you  somewhere  else. .  And  if  you  are  not  to  be  moved 
by  my  prayers,  I  interpose  my  advice,  with  which  if  you  comply, 
I  promise  you,  you  shall  reap  greater  satisfaction  in  the  dis- 
charge of  your  office  than  you  could  have  believed  before  making 
the  experiment.  Make  haste  then  with  all  the  speed  you  may, 
and  settle  among  us. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sir  and  very  honoured  brother. 
May  the  Lord  always  direct  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  prosper  your 
journey  that  we  may  see  you  in  safety  ere  long. — Yours, 

Charles  Passelius. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Zurich,  Simler.     Vol.108.] 


1563.]  .  M.    DE    LOINES.  343 


DCLXI.— To  M.  DE  LoiNES. 

Councillor  in  the  court  af  Parliament  of  Paris — Exhortation  not  to  abandon  his  office 
of  councillor  and  still  less  the  truth. 

Geneva,  bth  November,  1 5G.3. 

Monsieur: — Though  till  the  present  moment  I  had  never 
received  any  letters  from  you,  yet  it  was  with  pleasure  that  I 
often  had  good  news  of  you,  which  were  communicated  to  me 
several  times,  and  for  which  I  thanked  God.  But  letters  from 
your  own  hand  have  given  me  much  greater  satisfaction,  be- 
cause I  see  by  them  the  good  and  friendly  disposition  you  en- 
tertain towards  me.  I  was  already  aware  of  that,  but  I  am 
delighted  to  have  a  new  pledge  of  it  in  order  to  be  still  more 
certain  of  it.  For  the  rest,  as  I  see,  God  has  sorely  tried  you 
since  you  were  appointed  to  your  present  charge.  I  had  no 
doubts  indeed  but  that  while  your  colleagues  were  demeaning 
themselves  like  madmen  you  must  have  been  in  great  perplexity.' 
But  now  that  in  consequence  of  the  very  excesses  of  their 
mutinous  disposition  they  have  been  subdued  and  tamed,  you 
may  continue  to  exercise  your  profession  or  rather  pursue  the 
object  you  had  in  view  in  adopting  it,  and  in  doing  so  it  appears 
to  me  you  will  have  no  reason  to  regret  it,  and  I  am  so  far  from 
turning  you  aside  from  that  purpose  that  I  would  take  pains  to 
stimulate  you  were  it  necessary. 

Since  you  are  pleased  to  ask  my  advice,  besides  the  general 
principle  that  it  is  not  lawful  to  quit  a  public  vocation  and  dis- 
engage ourselves  from  its  duties  at  our  good  pleasure,  without 
being  constrained  to  such  a  measure  by  necessity  or  violence, 
the  present  state  of  things  imposes  on  you  a  double  obligation 
to  persist  in  your  task,  were  it  but  to  ascertain  how  God  will  be 
pleased  to  employ  you.     I  will  not  enter  into  any  disca.ssion  to 

'  The  Parliament  of  Paris  had  signalized  itself  among  all  the  courts  of  the  kingdom 
for  its  animosity  against  the  Reformed.  It  long  refused  to  register  the  edict  of 
January,  and  saw  but  with  regret  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  Amboise  which 
granted  to  the  Protestants  a  limited  liberty. 


344  M.    DE    LOINES.  [1563. 

persuade  you  how  you  ought  to  surmount  all  difficulties,  since 
it  is  certain  that  the  greatest  virtue  you  can  possess  is  to  shut 
your  eyes  on  everything  that  may  happen,  marching  simply 
whither  God  has  called  you.  It  would  be  desirable  that  you 
had  many  associates  in  your  task,  but  let  this  consideration 
satisfy  you,  that  God  has  called  you  to  a  combat,  which  you  have 
already  no  doubt  duly  meditated,  in  order  to  carry  you  through 
the  struggle  manfully. 

It  is  a  marvellous  thing  that  the  devil  has  agents  who  are 
inflamed  with  zeal,  and  spare  no  pains  to  lay  hold  of  all  the 
seats  of  justice,  thinking  that  it  is  a  means  of  oppressing  God's 
church,  and  that  in  the  mean  time  those  who  ought  to  resist  the 
evil  quit  the  place.  This  is  very  far  from  putting  in  practice 
St.  Paul's  rule,  to  take  away  the  occasion  from  those  who  seek 
it.  On  the  contrary,  we  should  rather  strive  to  make  some 
vacate  their  places,  to  put  in  their  stead  men  who  hold  out 
for  the  good  party.  I  should  only  ask  for  a  dozen  of  honest 
men  to  put  some  heart  into  the  bosoms  of  those  who  are  neither 
flesh  nor  fish,  that  is  to  say,  of  more  than  sixty  individuals. 
But  since  God  has  already  shown  you  what  you  ought  to  do,  I 
have  only  to  pray  him  to  fortify  you  with  invincible  courage, 
as  I  am  sure  he  will.  Only  make  haste  without  boggling, 
for  we  are  certain  of  gaining  every  point,  being  stayed  by  His 
power  to  strengthen  us  to  do  whatever  he  commands. 

Whereupon,  Monsieur,  having  humbly  commended  myself 
to  your  indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father 
to  keep  you  under  his  protection,  to  conduct  you  by  his  Spirit, 
and  make  you  prosper  in  all  good. 

[Fr.  Orig.  Minute. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


1563.]  BULLINGER.  345 


DCLXIL— To   BULLINGER. 

Versatile  policy  of  Catherine  de  Medicis — Departure  of  Conde — Favour  of  Coligny — 
Intolerance  of  the  Guises — Oppression  of  the  Protestants  in  the  provinces — Necessity 
for  assuring  to  theui  some  guaranties. 

Geneva,  2nfZ  December,  1563. 

Since  I  wrote  to  you,  venerable  brother,  these  are  the  latest 
news  from  France.  As  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  king's 
council  are  hostile  to  us,  in  a  sudden  impulse  of  fury  it  was  de- 
creed that  the  walls  of  Orleans  should  be  demolished.  The 
military  governor  began  to  pull  down  some  towers  and  to  fill  up 
the  fosses  with  rubbish.  If,  however,  we  may  believe  the  rumour, 
its  authors  are  ashamed  and  repent  of  so  pernicious  a  decree. 
They  had  come  to  a  similar  decision  respecting  many  other 
cities,  under  the  pretext  that  it  was  by  no  means  expedient  that 
there  should  be  any  fortified  places  except  near  the  frontiers  for 
the  purpose  of  repelling  the  enemy.  The  Prince  of  Condd  left 
the  court  about  a  month  ago,  because  the  queen  mother  had 
craftily  kept  in  suspense  the  marriage  of  her  son  with  the 
daughter  of  Saint  Andr^.  Thus  in  truth  betraying  the  cause 
of  Christ,  he  has  consulted  only  his  own  interest  and  personal 
advantages.  Although  nobody  feels  any  great  solicitude  to 
have  him  appeased,  his  indignation  will  evaporate  of  its  own 
accord.  Now  I  shall  tell  you  what  intelligence  we  received  the 
day  before  yesterday. 

When  the  Admiral  had  come  to  salute  the  king,  he  was  very 
graciously  received  by  him.  After  that  he  went  to  Paris  with 
a  very  numerous  escort.  The  Constable,  that  he  might  stir  up 
the  bile  of  the  envious,  went  to  his  lodgings  and  after  breakfast 
took  him  to  the  king's  palace.  There  he  was  present  at  a  de- 
liberation, in  which  it  is  supposed  that  a  great  many  matters 
■were  canvassed.  The  partisans  of  Guise  decamped  with  bag 
and  baggage  to  another  quarter  of  the  city.  Through  tlie  Duke 
of  Nemours  they  let  the  queen  mother  know  that  they  were 
astonished  why  she  suffered  the  Admiral  to  come  into  such  close 
contact  with  her  son.  She  replied  that  he  was  an  old  servant 
44 


846  BULLINGER.  [1563. 

of  the  king,  and  that  there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  be  ex- 
cluded from  visiting  him;  then  that  such  was  the  king's  plea- 
sure, but  that  at  the  same  time  there  was  room  for  everybody ; 
that  she  advised  them  consequently  to  come;  which  advice  they 
did  not  take.  But  the  parliament  sent  intercessors  to  the  Con- 
stable that  he  might  appease  the  resentment  of  his  grandson. 
The  Maire  and  the  magistrates  did  the  same  thing.  The  king 
was  on  the  point  of  going  to  the  Parliament  and  taking  the 
Admiral  along;  with  him.  In  a  short  time  we  shall  hear  how 
that  proceeding  terminated,  which,  however,  has  inspired  our 
party  with  the  greatest  hopes  of  a  favourable  issue.  The  Prince 
Porcien  was  expected  at  court  as  well  as  the  Duke  of  Bouillon, 
son  of  the  Marquis  and  great  grandson  of  the  famous  Robert. 
They  are  both  the  most  decided  enemies  of  the  party  of  the 
Guises.  The  Chancellor  who  was  our  friend  begins  to  recover 
from  his  timidity  and  take  heart.  The  king,  under  pretext  of 
visiting  the  lady  who  has  just  been  confined,  was  about  to  be 
dragged  to  Lorraine,  and  Athaliah'  was  so  bent  on  going  there 
that  it  was  to  no  purpose  that  everybody  opposed  her  resolution. 
Now  it  is  reported  that  she  has  changed  her  mind  respecting 
that  journey.  The  minds  of  all  are  occupied  with  concluding  a 
peace  with  the  En'glish.  In  this  manner  all  the  intrigues  of  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine  to  his  great  disgrace  will  come  to  nothing. 
The  king  is  nominally  major,  but  is  in  reality  governed  by  the 
will  of  another,  and  that  too  almost  like  a  slave.  He  would  not 
be  unfavourable  to  us,  if  he  durst  express  an  opinion.  In  the 
mean  time  you  could  hardly  believe  how  great  is  the  audacity 
of  nearly  all  the  judges  in  their  efforts  to  oppress  us.  The  in- 
nocent are  thus  miserably  tormented,  and  license  is  increased 
by  impunity.  The  inhabitants  of  Orleans  have  obtained  one 
object  of  their  wishes  in  having  the  garrison  removed  from  there, 
as  the  garrisons  have  been  from  other  cities. 

Wherefore  I  remind  you  that  you  must  take  care  that  travel- 
ling expenses  be  provided  for  our  neighbours,  who  will  speedily 
return.  Now  I  come  to  a  point  of  the  greatest  importance  of 
all,  and  to  which  I  particularly  desire  you  to  apply  all  your  at- 
tention and  zeal.     You  are  aware  that  the  time  is  fast  approach- 

'  That  is  to  say  :  Catherine  de  Medicis. 


1563.]  BULLIXGER.  347 

ing  in  whicli  the  league  is  to  be  renewed  with  the  Helvetians. 
If  your  senate  can  be  brought  to  contract  an  alliance  with  the 
king,  this  will  be  the  only  and  the  shortest  method  of  establish- 
ing the  gospel  in  France.  I  do  not  know  if  you  have  heard  of 
the  conspiracy  of  the  enemies.  They  fancy  that  when  a  national 
assembly  shall  be  appointed,  it  will  be  an  easy  and  prompt 
method  of  overturning  at  one  moment  almost  all  the  churches, 
both  because  they  will  decide  in  it  everything  at  their  own 
pleasure,  and  because  they  will  have  the  means  of  putting  their 
resolutions  in  execution.  The  pope  in  the  mean  time,  with  the 
king  of  Spain,  the  Venetians,  the  Italian  princes,  and  the  Duke 
of  Savoy  is  preparing  to  destroy  this  city  entirely  and  cut  us 
all  off.  Good  men  are  afraid  that  the  queen  mother,  unless  she 
be  bridled,  is  but  too  much  inclined  to  lend  her  aid  to  that 
faction.  It  will  then  be  the  safest,  and  indeed  the  only  remedy, 
if  the  Helvetian  states  that  have  embraced  the  gospel  should 
form  a  league  on  this  condition,  that  provision  should  be  made 
for  the  French  churches  and  their  liberties.  That  might  be  ob- 
tained  without  great  difficulty.  Three  other  cantons  would 
follow  the  example  set  them  by  your  senate.  Nor  would  it  be 
advantageous  to  the  French  and  us  alone,  that  the  king  should 
be  bound  to  protect  the  churches  in  the  modest  privileges  which 
they  now  possess,  but  it  would  also  be  extremely  desirable  for 
yourselves  in  order  to  put  a  check  upon  your  neighbours,  whose 
arrogance  would  thus  be  humbled,  and  their  intemperate  fury 
calmed  down.  I  entreat  you  then,  venerable  brother,  in  the 
name  of  God,  and  I  implore  you  by  the  common  safety  of  all 
our  brethren,  that  forgetting  the  numerous  obstacles  that  may 
stand  in  your  way,  you  would  strive  to  bring  about  this  alliance 
which  will  preserve  the  interests  of  religion  safe  and  intact  in 
France,  and  close  the  door  on  the  wicked  plots  of  the  ungodly. 
You  see  how  frankly  I  deal  with  you.  I  am  very  anxious  to 
know  what  you  think  on  the  subject.  This  one  thing  I  will 
venture  to  testify  freely ;  if  your  fellow  citizens  refuse,  they  will 
be  liable  to  be  charged  both  in  the  presence  of  God  and  men 
with  more  than  one  species  of  crime.  But  perhaps  there  will 
be  no  necessity  for  making  a  great  effort  to  decide  them,  when 
they  perceive  not  only  how  sacred  a  duty  it  is  to  rescue  from 


348  THE    DUCHESS    OF    FERRARA.  [1564. 

all  inquietude  the  churches  now  in  danger,  but  also  how  much 
it  will  promote  their  own  interests  to  have  the  king  bound  down 
not  to  abjure  the  cause  of  protecting  religion. 

Farewell,  most  illustrious  sir  and  respected  brother.  Be 
careful  to  salute  all  your  colleagues  in  my  name,  as  all  mine 
salute  you.  May  the  Lord  stand  by  you,  sustain  you  by  his 
Spirit,  and  long  preserve  you  in  safety. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

Your  devoted  friend  Jonvillers  respectfully  and  affectionately 
salutes  you. 

{Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107  a.] 


DCLXIII. — To  THE  Duchess  of  Ferrara.* 

Counsels  for  the  direction  of  her  household — Present  of  a  medal. 

Geneva,  ^th  Jamiary,  1564 

Madame: — I  believe  you  have  received  my  last  letters,  to 
which  I  expect  an  answer  in  order  to  acquit  myself  of  my  duty 
respecting  the  subject  on  which  you  had  been  pleased  to  write 
to  me.  In  the  mean  time  I  was  unwilling  to  neglect  the  oppor- 
tunity of  recommending  the  present  bearer  to  you,  that  you 
might  learn  from  him  the  state  of  things  here,  for  it  is  better  to 
assign  to  him  the  task  of  informing  you  orally  than  charge  the 
paper  with  such  details,  seeing  that  he  is  one  of  the  most  inti- 
mate friends  I  have,  and  a  man  in  whom  one  may  repose  the 

'  The  minister  Francis  de  Morel,  almoner  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  had  complained 
to  Calvin  of  the  difficulties  he  encountered  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  and  in  the 
application  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  at  the  small  court  of  Montargis  :  "  Great  danger 
arises  from  a  woman  being  the  sovereign.  The  church  is  in  a  miserable  condition, 
I  was  obliged  to  forego  dispensing  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  on  the  bypast 
month  of  September,  because  from  other  quarters  came  so  many  dotjs  and  sxoine  that 
I  should  have  been  obliged  to  admit  along  with  the  sheep.  The  festival  of  Christ's 
birth  is  at  hand.  At  that  time  it  is  customary  to  administer  the  Lord's  supper.  I 
do  not  know  how  to  act.  Do  3'ou  then,  my  most  worthy  father,  advise  me."  Letter 
of  the  6th  December,  1663.  The  Reformer  exhorted  the  duchess  to  maintain  the 
authority  of  the  Consistory  and  preserve  a  severe  discipline  in  her  household. 


1564.]  THE    DUCHESS    OF    FERRARA.  349 

most  absolute  trust.'  He  is  a  son  of  the  late  M.  Bud^  the  kinfj's 
master  of  the  rolls,  who  was  much  renowned  for  his  erudition. 
For  the  rest,  Madame,  you  have  shoAvn  by  your  decision  that  a 
residence  at  Paris  was  very  little  to  your  taste.'-^  It  is  true  that 
it  would  have  been  desirable  that  you  had  remained  constantly 
at  court  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  churches,  but  I  am  not  sur- 
prised that  you  seek  for  a  quieter  manner  of  life. 

Now,  since  God  has  brought  you  back  to  your  own  town,  it 
behoves  you  to  redouble  your  care  for  administering  rightly 
both  your  subjects  and  your  household.  I  know,  Madame,  how 
obstinate  the  people  are,  and  how  you  have  laboured  heretofore 
without  much  profit,  to  bring  them  into  subjection.  Be  that  as 
it  will,  I  pray  you  to  follow  out  completely  the  doctrine  of  St. 
Paul  on  this  head,  never  to  be  weary  of  well  doing,  whatever 
malice  you  may  encounter  to  damp  your  ardor.  Above  all  let 
your  household  be  a  mirror  to  set  the  example  to  those  who 
show  themselves  rather  indocile,  and  to  confound  those  who  are 
incorrigible  and  entirely  hardened.  To  accomplish  this,  I  beg 
you  to  keep  a  firm  hand,  to  the  utmost  of  your  power,  to 
.  establish  a  good  discipline  for  repressing  vices  and  occasions  of 
scandal. 

I  do  not  mean  a  police  with  regard  to  political  matters,  but 
also  in  respect  of  the  Consistory  of  the  church,  and  let  those  who 
are  established  to  have  an  eye  over  the  conduct  of  others,  be 
men  fearing  God,  of  holy  life,  and  such  sincerity  and  straight- 
forwardness that  nothing  shall  prevent  them  from  doing  their 
duty,  having  such  a  zeal  as  becomes  them  in  maintaining  the 
honour  of  God  in  its  integrity.  Now  let  no  one,  whatever  be 
his  rank  or  condition,  or  in  whatever  esteem  you  may  hold  him, 
be  ashamed  to  submit  to  the  order  which  the  Son  of  God  him- 
self has  established,  and  bend  his  neck  to  receive  the  yoke.  For 
I  assure  you,  Madame,  that  without  this  remedy  there  will  be 
an  unbridled  licentiousness  which  will  engender  only  confusion. 
Those  who  make  some  profession  of  Christianity  will  be  for  the 
most  part  dissolute.     In  one  word,  there  will  be  a  pliant,  and  as 

'  John  de  Bude. 

'Contrary  to  the  desires  of  Calvin,  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  had  quitted  the  court, 
where  her  counsels  were  not  listened  to,  to  return  to  her  chateau  of  Montargis. 


•3-jO  the  duchess  of  ferrara.  [1564. 

it  were  many-coloured  (sic)  gospel,  for  we  see  how  every  one 
flatters  himself  and  is  disposed  to  follow  his  own  appetites.  It 
is  wonderful  to  see  how  those  that  have  voluntarily  subjected 
themselves  to  the  tyranny  of  the  pope,  cannot  endure  that  Jesus 
Christ  should  bear  gentle  rule  over  them  for  their  own  salvation. 
But  it  is  true  that  the  devil  makes  use  of  this  device  to  bring 
the  truth  of  God  into  opprobrium,  to  cause  pure  religion  to  be 
contemned,  and  the  sacred  name  of  our  Redeemer  blasphemed. 
Thus,  Madame,  to  have  a  church  duly  Reformed,  it  is  more  than 
ever  requisite  to  have  people  charged  with  a  superintendence  to 
watch  over  the  morals  of  each ;  and  that  no  one  may  feel  him- 
self aggrieved  in  giving  an  account  of  his  life  to  the  elders,  let 
the  elders  themselves  be  selected  by  the  church,  as  nothing  can 
be  more  reasonable  than  to  preserve  to  it  this  liberty,  and  this 
privilege  will  tend  also  to  produce  greater  discretion  in  the  choice 
of  fitting  men,  and  approved  of  as  such  by  the  Consistory. 

I  am  persuaded,  Madame,  that  you  have  aided  our  brother  de 
Colonges  with  your  authority  in  establishing  some  such  order. 
But  knowing  to  how  much  corruption  the  courts  of  princes  are 
subject,  I  have  thought  that  it  would  not  be  superfluous  to  ex- 
hort you  to  maintain  it.  Nay,  it  is  right  that  you  should  be  re- 
minded of  one  thing:  namely,  that  at  all  times  the  devil  has 
striven  by  sinister  reports  and  defamation,  to  render  the  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel  contemptible,  in  order  that  they  may  become  the 
object  either  of  aversion  or  of  disgust.  For  that  reason  all  the 
faithful  should  be  carefully  on  their  guard  against  such  wiles. 
For,  in  fact,  to  quarrel  with  their  spiritual  pasture  is  something 
worse  than  finding  fault  with  their  bodily  food,  since  the  matter 
at  stake  here  is  the  life  of  their  souls.  Be  that  as  it  will,  if 
there  are  any  who  aim,  were  it  but  indirectly,  to  discourage 
you  from  pursuing  what  you  have  so  well  begun,  you  ought  to 
shun  them  as  deadly  plagues.  And  in  sooth  the  devil  stirs  them 
up  to  alienate  people  by  indirect  means  from  God,  whose  will  it 
is  that  He  should  be  recognized  in  the  person  of  his  servants. 

Above  all,  Madame,  never  allow  yourself  to  be  persuaded  to 
change  anything  in  the  state  of  the  church,  such  as  God  has 
consecrated  it  by  his  blood.  For  it  is  he  before  whom  every 
knee  should  bend.     If  to  wheedle  you  they  allege  that  your 


1564.]  THE    DUCHESS    OF    FERRARA.  351 

house  ought  to  be  privileged,  reflect  that  they  cannot  do  you 
more  dishonour  than  in  cutting  it  oif  from  the  body  of  the 
church;  as  on  the  contrary  you  cannot  be  more  higlily  honoured 
than  in  having  your  house  purged  of  all  pollutions.  Where,  I 
ask  you,  Madame,  ought  we  to  apply  the  remedies  sooner  than 
in  the  cases  where  the  diseases  have  most  chance  to  spread? 
Now  only  judge  if  courts  are  not  more  apt  to  break  out  into  all 
kinds  of  licentiousness  than  private  families,  unless  precautions 
be  taken  against  the  evil.  I  do  not  say,  if  there  is  any  subject 
of  scandal  among  the  members  of  your  household,  that  you,  who 
are  the  principal  member  of  the  church,  should  be  the  first  to  be 
reminded  of  it,  in  order  to  deliberate  in  perfect  concord  how  it 
may  be  corrected ;  but  what  I  recommend  is  that  your  authority 
should  not  interfere  to  interrupt  the  course  of  discipline,  since 
if  your  domestics  were  spared,  all  respect  for  the  Consistory 
would  disappear  like  water  from  a  leaky  vessel. 

Madame,  I  pass  to  another  subject.  I  have  long  had  a  great 
wish  to  make  you  a  present  of  a  gold  piece.  Think  how  bold  I 
am  ;  but  because  I  supposed  you  had  a  similar  one,  I  have  not 
ventured  hitherto,  for  it  is  only  its  rarity  that  can  give  it  any 
value  in  your  esteem.  Finally  I  have  delivered  it  to  the  bearer 
to  show  it  to  you,  and  if  it  is  a  novelty  to  you,  will  you  be  pleased 
to  keep  it?  It  is  the  finest  present  that  I  have  it  in  my  power 
to  make  you.' 

Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your  in- 
dulgent favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  have 
you  in  his  holy  keeping,  and  increase  you  in  all  good  and  pros- 
perityi 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107. J 

•  It  was  a  gold  medal  which  King  Lonis  XII.,  the  father  of  Rene,  had  caused  to  bo 
siruck  at  the  time  of  his  disputes  with  the  Pope  Julius  II.  with  this  exergue:  Perdam 
Babylonis  nomen  :  I  will  destroy  the  name  of  Babylon.  This  gift  was  very  agreeable 
to  the  Duchess  :  "  As  to  the  present  you  have  sent  me,  I  assure  you,  I  have  seen  and 
accepted  it  with  very  great  pleasure,  and  I  never  had  any  like  it.  I  have  praised  God 
that  the  late  king  my  father  had  adopted  such  a  device.  If  God  did  not  grant  him 
the  grace  to  put  it  in  execution,  perhaps  he  reserves  for  one  of  his  descendants  to  take 
his  place  to  accomplish  it."     (Library  of  Paris,  Dupuy,  vol.  86,  p.  120.) 


352  THE    DUCHESS    OF    FERRARA.  [1564. 


DCLXIV. — To  THE  Duchess  oe  Ferrara.' 

Answer  to  a  letter  of  this  princess  concerning  the  condemnation  of  the  Duke  of  Guise 
and  the  beatification  of  the  King  of  Navarre — Is  it  lawful  to  hate  our  enemies — 
Eulogy  of  Coligny. 

Geneva,  2ith  January,  1564. 

Madame  : — When  by  your  last  letter  you  had  intimated  to 
Messire  Francisco,  that  it  would  be  expedient  that  I  should  ex- 
hort to  charity  those  who  make  a  profession  of  being  Christians, 
I  understood  that  to  refer  to  some  ministers  that  you  have  found 
not  to  be  very  charitable  according  to  your  judgment.  In  the 
mean  time,  I  can  gather  that  you  alluded  to  the  too  great 
asperity  with  which  they  have  condemned  the  late  Duke  of 
Guise.  Now,  Madame,  before  I  proceed  to  examine  more 
closely  that  question,  I  pray  you  in  God's  name  to  reflect 
seriously,  that  on    your   part    also  it   is   requisite    to   observe 

'  Sincerely  devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  Reformation  which  counted  only  adversaries 
and  persecutors  in  her  family,  mother-in-law  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  aunt  of  Catherine 
of  Medicis  and  Charles  IX.,  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  had  a  painful  struggle  to  main- 
tain between  her  affections  and  her  faith.  The  memory  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  her 
son-in-law,  was  particularly  odious  to  the  Reformed,  who  accused  him  of  being  the 
author  of  the  massacre  of  Vassy.  Assassinated  at  Orleans  by  the  fanatic  Poltrot,  the 
hatred  of  the  Protestants  pursued  him  even  after  his  death,  and  the  ministers  devoted 
his  soul  to  eternal  damnation,  These  violent  sentiments  grieved  the  Duchess  of 
Ferrara,  who  eloquently  complained  of  them  in  several  of  her  letters  to  Calvin  :  "  I 
have  no  wish  to  excuse  the  faults  of  my  son-in-law  for  not  possessing  the  knowledge 
of  God,  but  against  the  accusation  that  he  was  the  only  one  that  kindled  these  fires 
of  discord.  It  is  well  known  that  he  had  retired  to  his  house,  and  was  unwilling  to 
stir  from  it,  and  also  that  he  was  urged  by  letters  and  messages  to  make  him  leave  it ; 
and  now  that  he  is  dead  and  gone,  there  is  so  envenomed  and  deadly  a  hatred,  which 
never  ceases  to  blacken  his  memory  by  all  the  falsehoods  that  can  be  raked  up  or 
imagined,  that  I  am  compelled  to  declare  that  I  cannot  hold  or  esteem  such  lying 
words  to  proceed  from  God.  I  know  that  he  was  a  persecutor,  but  I  do  not  know, 
nor  do  I  believe,  to  speak  out  to  you  undisguisedly,  that  he  is  reprobated  by  God,  for 
he  gave  signs  of  a  Christian  man  on  the  contrary  before  his  death.  But  they  will  not 
allow  that  he  said  anything,  and  they  wish  to  close  and  lock  up  the  mouths  of  those 
that  know  the  fact  .  .  .  And  do  you  not  see  how  they  can  never  sufBciently  satin le 
their  rancour  even  after  his  death  ?  And  had  he  been  ten  times  more  unh.ippy  and 
reprobate  than  he  ever  was,  it  is  strange  that  they  will  never  speak  of  anything  else  .  .  . 
etc."  Letter  of  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara  to  Calvin.  (Coll.  Dupuy,  vol.  8fi,)  published 
for  the  first  time  in  the  Archives  Curicuses  de  VHletoire  de  France.     Vol.  v.  p.  399. 


1564.]  THE   DUCHESS    OF   FERRARA.  353 

moderation.  For  it  is  only  one  void  of  reflection  who  will  f.-mcy 
tliat  we  can  ever  have  too  much  of  it.  And  without  taking  into 
account  the  report  of  others  I  have  perceived  in  your  letter, 
that  affection  makes  you  forget  what  otherwise  you  should  have 
sufficiently  known.  Respecting  what  I  had  alleged  to  you  that 
David  teaches  us  by  his  example  to  hate  the  enemies  of  God, 
you  reply  that  it  was  only  during  those  times  when  people  lived 
under  the  rigour  of  the  law,  that  it  was  permitted  to  hate 
enemies.  Now,  Madame,  this  gloss  would  lead  to  the  over- 
throwing of  the  whole  Scriptures,  and  for  that  reason  we  should 
shun  it  as  we  would  a  deadly  plague.  For  we  see  that  David 
surpassed  in  kindness  of  character  the  best  of  those  that  would 
be  found  in  our  days.  Thus  when  he  protests  that  he  has 
wept  and  in  secret  shed  tears  for  those  who  were  plotting  his 
death,  w'e  see  that  his  hatred  consisted  in  mourning  for  their 
death,  that  he  was  as  mock  spirited  as  could  possibly  be  desired. 
But  when  he  says  he  holds  the  reprobate  in  mortal  aversion,  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  he  glories  in  an  upright,  pure,  and  well 
regulated  zeal,  for  which  three  things  are  requisite:  first,  that 
we  should  have  no  regard  for  ourselves  nor  our  private  interests; 
next,  that  we  should  possess  prudence  and  discretion  not  to 
judge  at  random ;  and  finally,  that  we  observe  moderation  not 
to  exceed  the  bounds  of  our  calling.  All  this  you  will  see, 
Madame,  more  in  detail  in  several  passages  of  my  commentaries 
on  the  Psalms,  when  you  shall  be  pleased  to  take  the  trouble  to 
look  into  them.  So  that  indeed  the  Holy  Spirit  has  given  us 
David  as  a  model,  that  in  this  respect  we  might  follow  his  ex- 
ample. x\nd  in  fact  we  are  told  that  in  this  ardor  he  was  the 
type  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  if  we  pretend  to  surpass  in 
meekness  and  humanity  him  who  is  the  fountain  of  pity  and 
compassion,  woe  to  us. 

But  to  cut  short  all  disputes,  let  it  satisfy  us  that  St.  Paul 
applies  to  all  believers  this  passage :  "  The  zeal  of  thy  house 
hath  eaten  me  up.''  Wherefore  our  Lord  Jesus,  reproving  his  dis- 
ciples because  they  desired  that  he  should  cause  fire  to  come 
down  from  heaven  as  Elias  had  done,  and  consume  those  who 
rejected  him,  does  not  allege  that  we  are  no  longer  under  a  law 
of  rigour,  but  simply  shows  them  that  they  are  not  led  by  the 
45 


354  THE    DUCHESS    OF    FERRARA.  [1564. 

same  spirit  as  the  prophet.  Nay,  St.  John,  of  whom  you  have 
retained  nothing  hut  the  word  love,  clearly  shows  that  we  ought 
not,  under  show  of  an  affection  for  men,  to  become  indifferent  to 
the  duty  we  owe  to  the  honour  of  God  and  the  preservation  of 
his  church.  It  is  when  he  forbids  us  even  to  salute  those,  who, 
as  much  as  in  them  lies,  turn  us  aside  from  the  pure  doctrine. 
On  that  subject,  I  pray  you,  to  pardon  me  if  I  tell  you  frankly, 
that  in  my  opinion  you  have  taken  in  a  wrong  sense  the  com- 
parison of  the  bow,  which  we  bend  in  an  opposite  direction  when 
it  has  been  too  much  bent  on  one  side.  For  he  who  employed 
it  doubtless  only  meant  to  say  that  in  seeing  you  carried  to  ex- 
cess he  had-  been  constrained  to  be  more  vehement,  not  that  he 
might  falsify  the  Scriptures  or  disguise  the  truth. 

I  come  now  to  the  fact  which,  not  to  annoy  you  by  my  pro- 
lixity, I  shall  only  briefly  touch  upon.  You  have  not  been  the 
only  one  to  suffer  much  anguish  and  bitterness  during  these 
horrible  troubles  that  have  fallen  out.  True  it  is,  the  evil  might 
sting  you  more  keenly  on  seeing  the  throne  with  which  you  are 
connected  by  your  royal  descent,  subject  to  such  disorder.  But 
certainly  the  sorrow  was  common  to  all  the  children  of  God, 
and  though  we  might  all  have  said :  Woe  to  him  by  whom  this 
scandal  is  come ;  nevertheless  there  was  special  reason  for  groan- 
ing and  lamenting,  seeing  that  a  good  cause  had  been  very  ill- 
conducted.  Now  if  the  evil  distressed  all  good  men,  the  Duke 
of  Guise  who  had  kindled  the  conflagration  could  not  be  spared. 
For  my  own  part,  though  I  have  often  prayed  God  to  show  him 
mercy,  yet  it  is  certain  I  have  often  desired  that  God  should  lay 
his  hand  on  him  in  order  to  deliver  out  of  his  hands  the  poor 
church,  unless  it  pleased  God  to  convert  him.  So  that  I  may 
protest  that  before  the  war,  I  had  but  to  give  my  consent 
to  have  had  him  exterminated  by  those  men  of  prompt  and  ready 
execution,  who  were  bent  on  that  object,  and  who  were  restrained 
only  by  my  exhortation.  To  pronounce  that  he  is  damned, 
however,  is  to  go  too  far,  unless  one  had  some  certain  and  infal- 
lible mark  of  his  reprobation.  In  which  we  must  guard  against 
presumption  and  temerity,  for  there  is  none  can  know  that  but 
the  Judge  before  whose  tribunal  we  have  all  to  render  an  ac- 
count. 


15G4.]  THE    DUCHESS    OF    FERRARA.  355 

The  second  point  seems  to  me  still  more  exorbitant,  that  of 
pronouncing  the  King  of  Navarre  in  paradise  and  the  Duke  of 
Guise  in  hell.  For  if  we  institute  a  comparison  between  them, 
we  find  that  the  former  was  an  apostate,  the  latter  always  an 
avowed  enemy  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel.  What  I  should  wish 
then  in  this  matter  would  be  more  moderation  and  sobriety.  In 
the  mean  time  I  have  also  to  pray  you,  Madame,  not  to  show  so 
much  displeasure  at  the  expression,  not  to  pray  for  any  one, 
without  having  made  a  due  distinction  between  the  form  and  the 
reality  of  the  subject  in  question.  For  though  I  pray  for  the 
salvation  of  any  one,  that  does  not  imply  that  in  all  respects, 
and  everywhere,  I  recommend  him  as  if  he  were  a  member  of  the 
church.  We  demand  of  God  that  he  would  bring  back  into  the 
right  path  those  who  are  on  the  way  to  perdition.  But  it  will 
not  be  in  placing  them  in  the  rank  of  our  brethren  in  order  to 
desire  for  them  all  kinds  of  prosperity. 

On  this  subject,  I  will  relate  to  you  an  anecdote  of  the  Queen 
of  Navarre,  very  applicable  to  the  matter  in  question.  When 
the  king  her  husband  had  fallen  off  from  us,  the  minister  at  her 
court  ceased  to  make  mention  of  him  in  the  public  prayers. 
Irritated,  she  remonstrated  with  him  that  he  ought  not  to  make 
this  omission,  if  for  no  other  reason  at  least  from  consideration 
for  his  subjects.  He  excusing  himself  declared  that  if  he  had 
altogether  abstained  from  doing  so,  it  was  to  conceal  the  dis- 
honour of  the  king  her  husband,  inasmuch  as  he  could  not  pray 
to  God  for  him  in  reality,  unless  he  made  supplication  for  his 
conversion,  which  was  only  discovering  his  fall.  If  he  asked 
God  to  maintain  him  in  prosperity,  it  would  be  a  mockery  and  a 
profanation  of  prayer.  Having  heard  this  answer  she  said  not 
a  word  till  she  had  demanded  advice  of  others,  and  finding 
that  they  all  agreed  she  mildly  acquiesced.  As  I  know, 
Madame,  that  this  virtuous  princess  would  be  disposed  to  take 
a  lesson  from  you  as  a  thing  due  to  your  age  and  your  vir- 
tues, in  like  manner  I  entreat  you  not  to  be  ashamed  to  con- 
form your  conduct  to  hers  in  this  matter.  Her  husband 
was  a  closer  connection  to  her  than  your  son-in-law  to  you; 
nevertheless  she   mastered   her   affections  in  order  not    to  be 


356  THE   DUCHESS    OF   FEKRARA.  [1564. 

the  cause  of  having  God's  name  profaned,  which  it  would  be 
assuredly  if  our  prayers  were  feigned  or  militated  against  the 
repose  of  the  church.  And  to  have  done  with  this  pretext  of 
charity,  judge,  I  beseech  you,  Madame,  if  it  is  reasonable  that 
at  the  capricious  desire  of  a  single  man,  we  are  to  make  no  ac- 
count of  a  hundred  thousand — that  charity  should  be  so  confined 
to  one  who  had  endeavoured  to  throw  everything  into  confusion, 
that  the  children  of  God  should  be  kept  completely  in  the  back- 
ground. Now  the  remedy  for  all  that  is  to  hate  evil,  without 
taking  persons  into  the  account,  but  leaving  every  one  to  his 
Judge.  If  God  granted  me  the  favour  of  speaking  with  you,  I 
trust  I  should  speedily  satisfy  you.  In  the  mean  time  I  entreat 
you  to  weigh  well  what  I  have  slightly  handled,  that  you  may 
not  disquiet  and  irritate  your  mind  for  a  little  idle  talk,  which 
you  could  afford  to  treat  with  the  most  thorough  contempt. 

You  are  solicited  to  permit  the  shops  of  the  Papists  to  be 
robbed  and  pillaged.  I  take  good  care  not  to  approve  of  such 
a  step,  whoever  may  have  taken  it.  I  commend  on  the  con- 
trary your  virtue  and  greatness  of  mind,  in  having  been  unwill- 
ing to  acquiesce  in  so  unjust  a  demand.  I  say  the  same  thing 
of  the  other  excesses  which  you  mention.  Touching  the  quarrel 
which  has  arisen  in  your  household  between  the  two  persons 
whom  you  name,  I  know  not  what  reason  there  is  for  speaking 
against  the  woman.  I  have  no  doubt  of  what  you  tell  me, 
Madame ;  but  I  know  not  whether  there  have  been  any  bad 
symptoms  that  have  forced  M.  de  Colonges  to  give  such  an  ad- 
monition as  a  kind  of  preventive  remedy,  or  whether  he  has 
gone  too  for,  and  there  has  been  want  of  due  reflection  on  his 
part.  One  thing  is  certain  ;  that  the  husband  gave  loose  to  too 
much  violence* when  they  offered  to  satisfy  him,  and  the  answer 
and  refusal  of  M.  de  Colonges  also  savours  more  of  his  ambition 
and  of  worldly  vanity  than  of  the  modesty  of  a  man  of  his  calling, 
at  which  I  am  very  sorry,  for  he  must  have  forgotten  himself 
too  far.  If  the  parties  agree  to  lay  before  us  an  account  of 
their  affair,  I  will  do  all  in  my  power  to  remedy  the  evil  on 
whichsoever  side  it  may  be  found. 

On  this  point,  Madame,  I  confess  that  it  is  much  to  be  feared 


1564.]  THE  DUCHESS  OF  FERRARA.  357 

that  God  will  not  leave  us  long  to  enjoy  the  blessings  he  has 
granted  us;  since  everyone  is  so  taken  up  with  his  self-interest, 
that  we  do  not  know  how  to  support  our  neighbour  in  a  spirit 
of  meekness  and  humility.  And  so  far  are  we  from  loving  our 
enemies,  striving  to  overcome  evil  with  good,  that  there  is  no 
gentleness  among  us  to  keep  up  brotherly  love  between  those 
"who  boast  that  they  are  Christians.  Nevertheless,  I  pray  you 
again,  Madame,  not  to  dwell  any  longer  on  that  distinction 
which  deceives  you,  while  you  imagine  that  it  was  permitted 
under  the  law  to  avenge  one's  self,  because  it  is  there  said,  "an 
eye  for  an  eye."  For  vengeance  was  as  much  forbidden  then  as 
it  is  under  the  gospel,  seeing  that  we  are  commanded  to  do  good 
even  to  the  beast  of  our  enemy.  But  what  was  addressed  to 
the  judges  each  individual  applied  to  himself.  There  remains 
the  abuse  of  the  precept  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  corrects. 
Be  that  as  it  will,  we  are  all  agreed,  that  in  order  to  be  re- 
cognized as  children  of  God,  it  behoves  us  to  conform  ourselves 
to  his  example,  striving  to  do  good  to  those  who  are  unworthy 
of  it,  just  as  he  causes  his  sun  to  shine  on  the  evil  and  the  good. 
Thus  hatred  and  Christianity  are  things  incompatible.  I  mean 
hatred  towards  persons — in  opposition  to  the  love  we  owe  them. 
On  the  contrary  we  are  to  wish  and  even  procure  their  good ; 
and  to  labour,  as  much  as  in  us  lies,  to  maintain  peace  and  con- 
cord with  all  men. 

Now  if  those  who  are  commissioned  to  dissipate  all  enmity 
and  rancour,  to  reconcile  enemies,  to  exhort  to  patience,  and 
repress  all  lust  of  vengeance,  be  themselves  brands  of  discord — 
so  much  the  worse,  and  so  much  the  less  are  they  to  be  excused. 
At  any  rate,  Madame,  the  faults  which  displease  you  ought  not 
to  cool  your  zeal  or  prevent  you  from  continuing  as  you  have  so 
well  begun.  And  I  know  that  God  has  fortified  you  with  such 
courage  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  solicit  you  yet  more.  Where- 
fore I  am  confident  that  you  will  set  an  example  of  charity  to 
those  who  know  not  what  it  is,  and  by  your  integrity  and  plain 
dealing  cover  with  confusion  those  who  practise  towards  you 
hypocrisy  and  dissimulation.  On  the  other  hand  I  bless  God 
for  having  made  known  to  you  the  real  character  of  the  Admiral, 


358  THE    PHYSICIANS    OF    MONTPELLIER.  [1564. 

to  inspire  you  with  a  taste  for  his  probity.     When  it  will  please 
him  he  will  do  the  rest  .  .  .' 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 


DCLXV. — To  THE  Physicians  of  Montpellier. 

Medical  consultation. 

Geneva,  8<^  Fehruary,  1564. 

When  the  physician  Sarrazin,  on  whose  directions  I  princi- 
pally rely  for  the  re-establishment  of  my  health,  presented  me 
not  long  ago  some  remedies  which  you  prescribed  for  the  relief 
of  my  complaints,  I  asked  him,  who  had  without  my  knowledge 
taken  that  task  upon  him.  He  replied  that  at  the  request  of 
one  of  my  colleagues,  who  is  at  present  resident  among  you,  he 
had  drawn  up  a  short  abstract  of  matters  connected  with  my 
case,  in  order  that  you  might  give  me  the  benefit  of  your  advice. 
On  my  part,  I  cannot  but  recognize  from  the  very  minute  an- 
swers you  have  transmitted,  how  much  interest  you  take  in  my 
life,  about  the  prolongation  of  which  you  have  spontaneously 
shown  yourselves  so  solicitous.  If  to  have  given  yourselves  that 
trouble  at  my  demand  would  have  been  no  small  token  of  kind- 
ness on  your  part,  how  much  more  must  I  feel  indebted  to  you 
for  thus  anticipating  my  desires  by  your  unsolicited  benevolence ! 
Moreover,  I  have  no  other  means  of  testifying  my  gratitude  to 
you,  besides  that  of  recommending  you  to  draw  in  your  turn 
from  my  writings  what  may  afford  you  a  spiritual  medicine. 
Twenty  years  ago  I  experienced  the  same  courteous  services 
from  the  distinguished  Parisian  physicians,  Acatus,  Tagant,  and 
Gallois.  But  at  that  time  I  was  not  attacked  by  arthritic  pains, 
knew  nothing  of  the  stone  or  the  gravel — I  was  not  tormented 
with  the  gripings  of  the  cholic,  nor  afflicted  with  hemorrhoids, 
nor    threatened  with  expectoration  of  blood.     At  present  all 

'  The  end  is  wanting.  We  are  furnished  with  the  date  by  the  answer  of  the  duchess 
to  Calvin  :  "  Monsieur  Calvin,!  have  received  your  letter  of  the  8th  January  from  M. 
Bude,  and  that  of  the  24th  in  answer  to  my  last  .  .  . 


1564.]  THE   PHYSICIANS    OF    MONTPELLIER.  359 

these  ailments  as  it  were  in  troops  assail  me.  As  soon  as  I  re- 
coveied  from  a  (juartan  ague,  I  was  seized  with  severe  and  acute 
pains  in  the  calves  of  my  legs,  which  after  being  partially  re- 
lieved returned  a  second  and  a  third  time.  At  last  they  de- 
generated into  a  disease  in  my  articulations,  which  spread  from 
my  feet  to  my  knees.  An  ulcer  in  the  hsemorrhoid  veins  long 
caused  me  excruciating  sufferings,  and  intestinal  ascarides  sub- 
jected me  to  painful  titillations,  though  I  am  now  relieved  from 
this  vermicular  disease,  but  immediately  after  in  the  course  of 
last  summer  I  had  an  attack  of  nephritis.  As  I  could  not  en- 
dure the  jolting  motion  of  horseback,  I  was  conveyed  into  the 
country  in  a  litter.  On  my  return  I  wished  to  accomplish  a  part 
of  the  journey  on  foot.  I  had  scarcely  proceeded  a  mile  when 
I  was  obliged  to  repose  myself,  in  consequence  of  lassitude  in 
the  reins.  And  then  to  my  surprise  I  discovered  that  I  dis- 
charged blood  instead  of  urine.  As  soon  as  I  got  home  I  took 
to  bed.  The  nephritis  gave  me  exquisite  pain,  from  which  I 
only  obtained  a  partial  relief  by  the  application  of  remedies. 
At  length  not  without  the  most  painful  strainings  I  ejected  a 
calculus  which  in  some  degree  mitigated  my  suiFerings,  but  such 
was  its  size,  that  it  lacerated  the  urinary  canal  and  a  copious 
discharge  of  blood  followed.  This  hemorrhage  could  only  be 
arrested  by  an  injection  of  milk'  through  a  syringe.  After  that 
I  ejected  several  others,  and  the  oppressive  numbness  of  the 
reins  is  a  sufficient  symptom  that  there  still  exist  there  some 
remains  of  uric  calculus.  It  is  a  fortunate  thing,  however,  that 
minute  or  at  least  moderately  sized  particles  still  continue  to 
be  emitted.  My  sedentary  way  of  life  to  which  I  am  condemned 
by  the  gout  in  my  feet  precludes  all  hopes  of  a  cure.  I  am 
also  prevented  from  taking  exercise  on  horseback  by  my  hemor- 
rhoids. Add  to  my  other  complaints  that  whatever  nourish- 
ment I  take  imperfectly  digested  turns  into  phlegm,  which  by 
its  density  sticks  like  paste  to  my  stomach.  But  I  am  thought- 
lessly tasking  your  patience,  giving  you  double  labour  as  tlie 
reward  of  your  previous  kindness,  not  indeed  in  consulting 
you,  but  in  giving  you  the  trouble  to  read  over  my  vain  com- 
plaints. 

'  iluliehri  lacte. 


360  THE   DUCHESS    OF   FERRARA.  [1564. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  sirs  -whom  I  sincerely  honour. 
May  the  Lord  always  direct  you  by  his  Spirit,  sustain  you  by 
his  power,  and  enrich  you  more  and  more  with  his  gifts. 
\^CalvirLS  Lat.  corresp.,  Opera,  ix.  p.  172.] 


BCLXVI. — To  THE  Duchess  of  Ferrara.' 

Homage  rendered  to  the  piety  of  this  princess — Eulogy  of  her  niece  the  Duchess  of 

Savoy. 

Geneva,  4th  April,  1564. 

Madame  : — I  pray  you  to  pardon  me  if  I  employ  the  hand 
of  my  brother  in  writing  to  you,  in  consequence  of  my  weakness 
and  the  pains  I  suffer  from  divers  diseases — difficulty  of  breath- 
ing, the  stone,  the  gout,  and  an  ulcer  in  the  hsemorrhoid  veins 
•which  prevents  me  from  taking  any  exercise,  which  is  the  only 
thing  from  which  I  might  hope  to  derive  some  relief.  I  will  also 
pray  you  to  excuse  me  if  this  letter  is  short  in  comparison  of 
yours,  inasmuch  as  I  am  still  waiting  for  the  return  of  M.  de 
Bud^,  through  whom  you  have  promised  to  let  me  hear  news 
of  you.  Add  to  that,  I  have  received  no  letter  from  M.  de 
Colonges  to  inform  me  what  measures  should  be  adopted  to  ap- 
pease the  differences  of  your  household,  and  remedy  for  the 
future  all  that  might  breed  troubles  and  tumults,  or  keep  up 
animosities  and  rancour. 

Touching  other  matters,  if  my  advice  has  any  weight  with  you, 
do  not,  I  pray  you,  torment  your  mind  any  more  about  them, 
for  whatever  occur,  too  violent  passions  engender  much  uneasi- 
ness, and  shiit  the  door  on  reason  and  truth.  Nay,  I  have  been 
astonished,  Madame,  though  in  speaking  of  the  reprobate  I  had 
distinctly  separated  the  person  of  the  Duke  of  Guise  from  the 
question,  and  protested  that  those  who  according  to  their  fancy 
damn  people  are  too  presumptuous,  that  you  have  nevertheless 
taken  my  remark  in  quite  a  contrary  sense.  That  is  the  reason 
why  I  refrain  from  saying  anything  more,  either  good  or  bad 

'  Dictated  from  his  death-bed.  This  letter  is  the  last  of  the  French  correspondence 
of  the  Reformer. 


1564.]  THE   DUCHESS    OF   FERRARA.  361 

on  that  matter.  I  shall  allude  to  one  thing,  however,  that  so 
fiir  are  virtuous  people  from  entertaining  sentiments  either  of 
hatred  or  horror  for  you,  because  you  are  the  mother-in-law  of 
M.  de  Guise,  that  they  only  love  and  respect  you  the  more,  seeing 
that  connection  did  not  turn  you  aside  from  making  an  upright 
and  pure  profession  of  Christianity,  and  that  not  only  in  words 
hut  by  deeds  so  remarkable  that  nothing  could  exceed  them. 
As  for  myself  I  protest  to  you,  that  that  has  excited  me  to  hold 
your  virtues  in  so  much  the  greater  admiration. 

I  pass  to  another  subject.  I  have  heard  that  your  niece  the 
Duchess  of  Savoy  is  in  a  fair  train,  and  is  even  deliberating 
about  making  an  open  declaration,'  but  you  know  how  many 
meddlesome  intriguers  there  are  to  retard  her  or  cool  her  zeal, 
and  on  the  other  hand  she  has  always  been  timid,  so  that 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  this  good  disposition  of  mind  will  proceed 
no  further  unless  it  be  stimulated.  Now,  Madame,  I  am  of 
opinion  that  there  is  nobody  in  this  world  who  has  more  authority 
over  her  than  you;  for  that  reason  I  would  entreat  you  in  God's 
name  not  to  spare  a  good  and  earnest  exhortation,  in  order  to 
give  her  courage  to  take  a  decided  resolution :  in  which  I  hold  it 
for  certain  that  you  will  do  your  whole  duty  according  to  your 
zeal  for  having  God  more  and  more  served  and  honoured. 

Madame,  having  very  humbly  commended  myself  to  your 
indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  heavenly  Father  to  keep 
you  under  his  protection,  to  govern  you  continually  by  his  Spirit, 
and  to  maintain  you  in  all  prosperity. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.] 

'Margaret  of  France,  sister  of  Henry  II.,  wife  of  Emmanuel  Philihcrt,  Duke  of 
Savoy.  Endowed  with  the  most  amiable  and  generous  character,  this  princess  had  a 
secret  inclination  towards  the  Reformed  faith.  She  died  in  1574,  leaving  a  memory 
that  was  venerated  in  the  churches  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  whose  cause  she 
pleaded  several  times  with  Emmanuel  Philibert.  See  on  this  subject  two  letters  of 
this  princess  to  the  Seigneury  of  Geneva,  written  in  the  month  of  June,  16C6.  Ar- 
chives de  Genlve.     No.  1680. 

46 


362  BULLINGER.  [1564. 


DCLXVIL— To   BULLINGER. 

Sufferings  of  Calvin  and  the  inefficaey  of  the  healing  art  to  relieve  them — News  of 
France  and  Germany. 

Geneva,  6th  April,  1564. 

I  do  not  claim  your  indulgence  for  my  long  silence,  respected 
brother,  because  you  must  have  learned  from  others  how  just 
an  excuse  I  have  had  for  my  delay,  and  which  excuse  I  may  in 
a  great  measure  still  allege.'  For  though  the  pain  in  my  side 
is  abated,  my  lungs  are  nevertheless  so  charged  with  phlegmatic 
humours  that  my  respiration  is  difficult  and  interrupted.  A  cal- 
culus in  my  bladder  also  gives  me  very  exquisite  pain  for  the  last 
twelve  days.  Add  to  that  the  anxious  doubts  we  entertain  about 
the  possibility  of  curing  it,  for  all  remedies  have  hitherto  proved 
ineffectual ;  exercise  on  horseback  would  have  been  the  best  and 
most  expeditious  method  of  getting  rid  of  it,  but  an  ulcer  in 
my  abdomen  gives  me  excruciating  pain  even  when  seated  or 
lying  in  bed,  so  that  the  agitation  of  riding  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Within  the  last  three  days  the  gout  has  also  been  trouble- 
some. You  will  not  be  surprised  then  if  so  many  united  suffer- 
ings make  me  lazy.  It  is  with  much  ado  I  can  be  brought  to 
take  any  food..  The  taste  of  wine  is  bitter.  But  while  I  wish 
to  discbarge  my  duty  in  writing  to  you,  I  am  only  tiring  out 
your  patience  with  my  insipid  details. 

Respecting  the  affairs  of  France,  Beza  has  promised  to  write  ^ 

'Already  the  preceding  year  Calvin  had  been  repeatedly  forced  to  interrupt  his 
correspondence  in  consequence  of  the  multiplied  sufferings  of  his  illness.  His  pious 
secretary  Charles  de  Jonvillers  wrote  on  this  occasion  to  Bullinger  :  "  These  few  words 
I  have  thought  proper  to  add  hurriedly,  that  you  may  know  that  M.  Calvin  is  such  a 
martyr  to  sufferings,  that  far  from  being  able  to  write,  he  cannot  even  dictate  anything 
to  be  sent  to  you,  in  consequence  of  the  pressure  of  his  disease.  I  know  the  high 
esteem  in  which  he  holds  you,  as  you  deserve,  and  I  can  scarcely  write  without  tears. 
I  entreat  of  you  then  that  in  your  prayers  and  those  of  your  whole  church,  you  in  the 
mean  time  commend  to  God  both  him  and  all  of  us."  Letter  of  the  11th  June,  1563. 
(Arch,  of  Zurich.)  The  days  of  the  Reformer  were  already  numbered,  and  before  a  year 
had  elapsed,  that  great  light  was  withdrawn  from  the  church  and  the  world. 

*In  a  letter  of  Beza's  to  Bullinger  of  the  4th  May,  1564,  may  be  remarked  some 
affecting  details  respecting  the  malady  of  Calvin  already  so  weak  as  to  be  incapable 


1564.]  BULLINGER.  363 

to  you.  I  dispense  then  with  saying  anything,  not  to  repeat  a 
twice  told  tale.  I  shall  only  allude  to  one  subject  however. 
You  have  heard  long  ago  that  the  king  has  gone  to  Lorraine. 
The  cause  of  his  journey  was  a  secret  to  the  courtiers  them- 
selves, but  it  was  revealed  to  me  lately  by  the  person  who  was 
charged  to  convey  instructions  backwards  and  forwards.  The 
envoy  of  the  king  to  the  emperor,  and  who  formerly  was  among 
you  at  the  time  he  was  Abbot  of  St.  Laurence,  is  holding  out 
to  the  queen  mother  great  and  dazzling  prospects  from  King 
Maximilian.  But  in  the  mean  time  he  stipulates  that  the  queen 
should  not  openly  declare  that  she  entertains  any  hopes.  I 
make  no  doubt,  therefore,  but  he  will  sell  himself  to  the  cardi- 
nal of  Lorraine.  For  after  having  failed  in  all  his  projects,  he 
conceives  that  his  only  remaining  resource  is  to  gain  time  by 
giving  out  these  ambiguous  intimations.  I  see  no  other  fraud 
or  treachery  concealed  in  this  mission,  except  to  amuse  the 
queen  with  false  expectations,  and  bring  himself  forward  by  his 
insinuations,  to  undertake  affairs  which  he  will  never  bring  to 
any  conclusion.  For  it  is  eyident  that  Roschetelle  has  made  a 
false  use  of  King  Maximilian's  name,  since  he  childishly  advises 
the  queen  to  dissemble  and  keep  everything  a  profound  secret. 
But  my  cough  and  a  difficulty  of  breathing  leave  me  no  voice 
to  dictate  any  more.  Farewell,  then,  venerable  brother,  along 
with  Mr.  Gualter,  your  other  colleagues,  and  your  whole  family. 
May  the  Lord  protect  you  all,  enrich  you  more  and  more  with 
his  benefits,  and  sustain  you  by  his  power,  I  am  unwilling  to 
lose  my  pains  in  writing  to  you  about  the  state  of  our  city. — 
Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Yol.  107  a.] 

of  acquitting  himself  of  his  epistolary  duties.  "  But  what  gives  us  the  most  poignant 
distress  is  the  uninterrupted  sufferings  of  that  most  excellent  man,  our  father  and  the 
faithful  servant  of  God.  Of  his  life,  humanly  speaking,  we  now  utterly  despair.  lie 
is  alive,  however,  and  thus  indeed,  as  he  had  afforded  us  a  rare  example  of  an  upright 
life,  so  now  he  furnishes  us  with  one  of  a  courageous  and  truly  Christian  death.  But 
ah  wretched,  me!  what  shall  I  do  upon  whom  so  overwhelming  a  charge  devolves?" 
(Library  of  Geneva,  vol.  118.) 


364  FAREL.  [1564. 


DCLXVIII.— To  Farel. 

Last  adieus. 

Geneva,  2nd  May,  1564. 

Farewell,  my  most  excellent  and  upright  brother;  and  since 
it  is  the  will  of  God  that  you  should  survive  me  in  the  world, 
live  mindful  of  our  intimacy,  which,  as  it  was  useful  to  the 
church  of  God,  so  the  fruits  of  it  await  us  in  heaven.'  I  am 
unwilling  that  you  should  fatigue  yourself  for  my  sake.^  I  draw 
my  breath  with  difficulty,  and  every  moment  I  am  in  expecta- 
tion of  breathing  my  last.  It  is  enough  that  I  live  and  die  for 
Christ,  who  is  to  all  his  followers  a  gain  both  in  life  and  death. 
Again  I  bid  you  and  your  brethren  Farewell. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Arch,  of  Heuchdtel.] 

'  It  cannot  fail  to  be  interesting  to  produce  along  with  this  affecting  adieu  the  noble 
testimony  rendered  by  Farel  to  Calvin  in  a  letter  to  Fabri  of  the  6th  June,  1564  :  "  Oh 
■why  was  I  not  taken  away  in  his  stead,  and  he  preserved  to  the  church  which  he  has 
so  well  served,  and  in  combats  harder  than  death?  He  has  done  more  and  with 
greater  promptitude  than  any  one,  surpassing  not  only  the  others  but  himself.  Oh, 
how  happily  he  has  run  a  noble  race  !  May  the  Lord  grant  that  we  run  like  him,  and 
according  to  the  measure  of  grace  that  has  been  dealt  out  to  us." 

'In  spite  of  his  great  age  Farel  took  a  journey  to  see  again  onco  more  his  friend, 
his  fellow  labourer  now  on  his  death-bed.  "And  nevertheless,  that  excellent  old  man 
came  to  Geneva,  and  after  they  had  an  interview  together,  the  following  day  he  re- 
turned to  Neuchfi-tel."     Beza,  Vita  Calvini. 


LAST  DISCOURSES  OF  CALVIN. 


CALVIN'S  TESTAMENT. 

LAST   WILL   AND    TESTAMENT   OF   MASTER   JOHN   CALVIN. 

In  the  name  of  God,  be  it  known  to  all  men  by  these  presents 
that  in  the  year  1564,  and  the  25th  day  of  the  month  of  April, 
I  Peter  Chenelat,  citizen  and  sworn  Notary  of  Geneva,  have 
been  sent  for  by  SpectahW^  John  Calvin,  minister  of  the  word 
of  God  in  the  Church  of  Geneva,  and  burgess  of  the  said  Geneva, 
who,  being  sick  and  indisposed  in  body  alone,  has  declared  to  me 
his  intention  to  make  his  testament  and  declaration  of  his  last 
will,  begging  me  to  write  it  according  as  it  should  be  by  him 
dictixted  and  pronounced,  which,  at  his  said  request,  I  have  done, 
and  have  written  it  under  him,  and  according  as  he  hath  dictated 
and  pronounced  it,  word  for  word,  without  omitting  or  adding 
anything — in  form  as  follows  : 

In  the  name  of  God,  I  John  Calvin,  minister  of  the  word  of 
God  in  the  Church  of  Geneva,  feeling  myself  reduced  so  low  by 
diverse  maladies,  that  I  cannot  but  think  that  it  is  the  will  of 
God  to  withdraw  me  shortly  from  this  world,  have  advised  to 
make  and  set  down  in  writing  my  testament  and  declaration  of 
my  last  will  in  form,  as  follows : 

'  Epithet  marking  respect,  used  in  title  deeds,  etc. 

( 365  ) 


866  LAST   WILL    OF    CALVIN. 

In  the  first  place,  I  render  thanks  to  God,  not  only  because 
he  has  had  compassion  on  me,  his  poor  creature,  to  draw  me 
out  of  the  abyss  of  idolatry  in  which  I  was  plunged,  in  order  to 
bring  me  to  the  light  of  his  gospel  and  make  me  a  partaker  of 
the  doctrine  of  salvation,  of  which  I  was  altogether  unworthy, 
and  continuing  his  mercy  he  has  supported  me  amid  so  many 
sins  and  short-comings,  which  were  such  that  I  well  deserved  to 
be  rejected  by  him  a  hundred  thousand  times — but  what  is  more, 
he  has  so  far  extended  his  mercy  towards  me  as  to  make  use  of 
me  and  of  my  labour,  to  convey  and  announce  the  truth  of  his 
gospel ;  protesting  that  it  is  my  wish  to  live  and  die  in  this  faith 
which  he  has  bestowed  on  me,  having  no  other  hope  nor  refuge 
except  in  his  gratuitous  adoption,  upon  which  all  my  salvation  is 
founded ;  embracing  the  grace  which  he  has  given  me  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  accepting  the  merits  of  his  death  and 
passion,  in  order  that  by  this  means  all  my  sins  may  be  buried ; 
and  praying  him  so  to  wash  and  cleanse  me  by  the  blood  of  this 
great  Redeemer,  which  has  been  shed  for  us  poor  sinners,  that 
I  may  appear  before  his  face,  bearing  as  it  were  his  image. 

I  protest  also  that  I  have  endeavoured,  according  to  the 
measure  of  grace  he  has  given  me,  to  teach  his  word  in  purity, 
both  in  my  sermons  and  writings,  and  to  expound  faithfully  the 
Holy  Scriptures ;  and  moreover,  that  in  all  the  disputes  I  have 
had  with  the  enemies  of  the  truth,  I  have  never  made  use  of 
subtle  craft  nor  sophistry,  but  have  gone  to  work  straight-for- 
wardly  in  maintaining  his  quarrel.  But  alas !  the  desire  which 
I  have  had,  and  the  zeal,  if  so  it  must  be  called,  has  been  so 
cold  and  so  sluggish  that  I  feel  myself  a  debtor  in  everything 
and  everywhere,  and  that,  were  it  not  for  his  infinite  goodness, 
all  the  affection  I  have  had  would  be  but  as  smoke,  nay,  that 
even  the  favours  which  he  has  accorded  me  would  but  render 
me  so  much  the  more  guilty ;  so  that  my  only  recourse  is  this, 
that  being  the  Father  of  mercies  he  will  show  himself  the  Father 
of  so  miserable  a  sinner. 

Moreover,  I  desire  that  my  body  after  my  decease  be  in- 
terred in  the  usual  manner,  to  wait  for  the  day  of  the  blessed 
resurrection. 

Touching  the  little  earthly  goods  which  God  has  given  me  here 


LAST    WILL    OF    CALVIN.  367 

to  dispose  of,  I  name  and  appoint  for  my  sole  heir,  my  well  beloved 
brother  Antony  Calvin,  but  only  as  honorary  heir  however,  leav- 
ing to  him  the  right  of  possessing  nothing  save  the  cup  which  I  have 
had  from  Monsieur  de  Varennes,'  and  begging  him  to  be  satis- 
fied with  that,  as  I  am  well  assured  he  will  be,  because  he  knows 
that  I  do  this  for  no  other  reason  but  that  the  little  which  I 
leave  may  remain  to  his  children.  I  next  bequeath  to  the 
college  ten  crowns,  and  to  the  treasure  of  poor  foreigners  the 
same  sum.  Item,  to  Jane,  daughter  of  Charles  Costan  and  my 
half-sister,'-^  that  is  to  say,  by  the  father's  side,  the  sum  of  ten 
crowns ;  and  afterwards  to  each  of  my  nephews,  Samuel  and 
John,  sons  of  my  aforesaid  brother,^  forty  crowns  ;  and  to  each 
of  my  nieces,  Anne,  Susannah,  and  Dorothy,  thirty  crowns. 
As  for  my  nephew  David  their  brother,  because  he  has  been 
thoughtless  and  unsettled,  I  leave  to  him  but  twenty-five  crowns 
as  a  chastisement.^  This  is  the  total  of  all  the  property  which 
God  has  given  me,  according  as  I  have  been  able  to  value  and 
estimate  it,  whether  in  books,^  furniture,*'  plate,  or  anything 

'  Guillauiue  de  Trie,  Seigneur  de  Vareunes.  He  died  in  15G2,  leaving  the  guardian- 
ship of  his  children  to  Calvin. 

"  Mary,  daughter  by  a  second  marriage  of  Gerard  Calvin.  She  had  quitted  Noyou 
in  1536,  to  follow  her  brothers  John  and  Antony  to  Switzerland. 

"  Antony  Calvin  had  espoused  in  first  marriage  Anne  de  Fer,  whom  he  divorced  for 
adultery  in  1557.  He  married  again  the  lith  of  January,  1560,  with  Antoinette 
Commelin,  the  widow  of  the  minister  of  St.  Andr^.  He  bad  by  his  first  wife  two 
sous,  Samuel  and  David,  and  two  daughters,  Anne  and  Susannah;  by  the  second,  a 
son,  John,  who  died  without  posterity  in  1601,  and  three  daughters,  Dorothy,  Judith, 
and  Mary,  who  died  of  the  plague  in  1574.     Galifle,  JVot.  Geiwal,  vol.  iii.  p.  113. 

■•This  David,  as  well  as  Samuel  his  brother,  were  disinherited  by  Antony  Calvin, 
because  of  their  "disobedience." 

*  Calvin's  books  were  purchased  after  his  death  by  the  Seigneury,  as  we  see  by  the 
reo-isters  of  the  council,  8th  July,  1564  :  "  Resolved  to  buy  for  the  republic  such  of  the 
books  of  Mr.  Calvin  as  Mr.  Beza  shall  judge  proper. 

'A  part  of  Calvin's  furniture  belonged  to  the  republic  of  Geneva,  as  is  proved  by 
the  inventory  preserved  in  the  archives.  (No.  1426.)  We  extract  from  it  the  list  of 
articles  lent  to  the  Reformer,  27th  December,  1548,  and  restored  to  the  seigneury  after 
his  death  : 

1st  A  bedstead  of  walnut-tree  wood,  rough  and  unplaned;  Item.  A  walnut-tree 
table  of  a  square  form  jointed  with  iron;  A  bench  turned  on  the  lathe  to  correspond 
to  this  table;  A  buflfet  of  walnut-tree  jointed  with  iron;  A  walnut-tree  wash  hand 
stand;  Another  bedstead,  planed  by  the  joiner;  A  walnut  wood  chest,  consolidated 
with  iron  ;  A  high-backed  chair  of  polished  walnut  tree;  A  square  wooden  table;  A 
polished  walnut-trco  bufi'et  (has  not  been  found) ;  A  coffer  buffet ;  A  long  bench 
turned  OB  the  lathe;  Another  square  walnut  wood  table;  .\  walnut  wood  bedstead; 


368  LAST   AYILL    OF    CALVIN. 

else.  However,  should  the  result  of  the  sale  amount  to  anything 
more,  I  mean  that  it  should  be  distributed  among  my  said 
nephews  and  nieces,  not  excluding  David,  if  God  shall  have 
given  him  grace  to  be  more  moderate  and  staid.  But  I  believe 
that  on  this  subject  there  will  be  no  difficulty,  especially  when 
my  debts  shall  be  paid,  as  I  have  given  charge  to  my  brother 
on  whom  I  rely,  naming  him  executor  of  this  testament  along 
with  the  spectable  Laurence  de  Normandie,  giving  them  all 
power  and  authority  to  make  an  inventory  without  any  judicial 
forms,  and  sell  my  furniture  to  raise  money  from  it  in  order  to 
accomplish  the  directions  of  this  testament  as  it  is  here  set  down 
in  writing,  this  25th  April,  1564. 

Witness  my  hand, 

John  Calvin. 

After  being  written  as  above,  at  the  same  instant  the  said 
spectable  Calvin  undersigned  with  his  usual  signature  the  minute 
of  the  said  testament.  And  the  following  day,  which  was  the 
26th  of  the  month  of  April,  the  said  spectable  Calvin  sent  for 
me  a  second  time  together  with  spectable  Theodore  Beza,  Ray- 
mond Chauvet,  Michael  Cop,  Louis  Enoch,  Nicholas  Coladon, 
Jacques  Desbordes,  ministers  of  the  word  of  God  in  this  church, 
and  sp>ectable  Henry  Seringer,  professor  of  letters,  all  burgesses 
of  Geneva,  in  presence  of  whom  he  declared  that  he  had  caused 
me  to  write  under  him,  and  at  his  dictation,  the  said  testament 
in  the  form,  and  with  the  same  words  as  here  above,  praying  me 
to  read  it  aloud  in  the  presence  of  the  said  witnesses  sent  for 
and  required  for  that  purpose,  which  I  did  with  an  audible  voice, 
and  word  for  word.  After  which  reading  he  declared  that  such 
was  his  will  and  last  disposition,  desiring  that  it  might  be  ob- 
served. And  for  still  greater  confirmation  of  the  same,  begged 
and  requested  the  above  mentioned  persons  to  subscribe  it  along 
with  me,  which  was  also  done  on  the  year  and  day  above  written, 
at  Geneva  in  the  street  called  Des  chanoines^  and  the  dwelling 


Four  long  tables  with  their  trestles  of  fir,  and  another  long  table  of  walnut  wood ;  A 
dozen  forms  good  and  bad  (new  ones  given  back  in  their  stead) ;  A  desk  for  books. 
The  present  furniture  given  back  this  26th  September,  1664. 

EUFI. 


FAREWELL   TO    THE    SEIGNEURS.  309 

house  of  the  said  testator.  In  faith  of  which,  and  to  serve  for 
sufficient  proof,  I  have  drawn  up  in  the  form  as  here  above  pre- 
sented, the  present  testament,  in  order  to  expedite  it  to  whom  it 
may  concern,  under  the  common  seal  of  our  most  honourable 
seigneurs  and  superiors  and  my  own  usual  sign-manual. 
Witness  my  hand, 

P.  Chenalat. 


Calvin's  Farewell  to  the  Seigneurs  of  Geneva. 

Taken  down  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Republic. 

[Follow  the  words  and  exhortations  of  spectable  John  Calvin, 
minister  of  the  word  of  God  in  this  church  spoken  this  day,  27th 
April,  1564,  to  our  most  honourable  seigneurs  the  Syndics  and 
Council]. 

First,  after  having  thanked  Messeigneurs  for  the  trouble  they 
had  taken  in  coming  to  his  house,  though  his  wish  was  to  have 
had  himself  carried  to  the  town  house,  he  declared  that  he  has 
always  had  the  desire  to  address  them  once  more ;  and  though 
heretofore  he  has  been  very  low,  nevertheless  he  was  unwilling 
to  hurry,  inasmuch  as  God  had  not  given  him  so  precise  an  ad- 
vertisement as  he  does  at  present. 

Then  after  he  had  thanked  them,  because  they  had  been 
pleased  to  do  him  more  honour  than  was  due  to  him,  and  to  bear 
with  him  in  many  circumstances  in  which  he  stood  in  great 
need  of  their  indulgence,  he  still  considers  himself  so  much  the 
more  obliged  to  the  said  seigneurs  that  they  have  always  shown 
him  such  marks  of  affection,  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to 
show  more.  True  it  is  that  while  he  has  resided  here,  he  has 
had  many  combats  and  subjects  of  vexation,  as  no  doubt  all  good 
men  must  be  tried,  yet  none  of  these  were  owing  to  Messeigneurs. 
He  prays  them  then,  if  he  has  not  done  what  he  ought  to  have 
done,  that  Messeigneurs  will  be  pleased  to  take  the  will  for  the 
deed,  for  he  has  desired  the  good  of  this  city,  and  has  contri- 
buted to  it,  but  he  is  far  from  having  accomplished  all  his  duty 
47 


370  FAREWELL   TO   THE    SEIGNEURS. 

in  respect  to  it.  It  is  true  he  does  not  deny  that  God  has  made 
use  of  him  as  an  instrument  for  the  little  he  has  done,  and  if  he 
said  otherwise  he  should  be  a  hypocrite;  he  begs  then  again  to 
be  excused  for  having  done  so  little  in  proportion  to  what  he 
was  bound  to  do,  both  in  public  and  private,  and  he  feels  per- 
suaded that  Messeigneurs  have  borne  with  his  natural  disposition 
by  far  too  vehement,  and  with  which  he  is  oflfended,  and  with  his 

other  vices  as  God  also  has  been. 

» 

Moreover,  he  protests  before  God  and  before  Messeigneurs, 
that  he  has  made  it  his  endeavour  to  speak  in  purity  the  word 
which  God  has  confided  to  him,  making  sure  not  to  walk  at 
random  nor  in  error.  Otherwise  he  should  expect  a  condemna- 
tion on  his  head,  not  doubting,  as  we  see,  but  that  the  devil, 
whose  only  aim  is  to  pervert,  stirs  up  wicked  people,  having  the 
spirit  of  madness  to  aim  at  the  same  end. 

For  the  rest,  it  is  necessary  that  Messeigneurs  should  have  a 
short  word  of  exhortation.  For  they  see  in  what  position  they 
are  placed,  and  whether  they  fancy  they  shall  stand  in  surety 
or  shall  be  threatened,  it  behoves  them  always  to  keep  in  mind 
that  God  wishes  to  be  honoured,  and  that  he  reserves  to  himself 
the  right  of  maintaining  both  public  states  and  private  condi- 
tions, and  wills  that  we  do  him  homage,  by  recognizing  that  we 
are  wholly  dependent  on  him.  We  have  an  example  in  David, 
who  confesses  that  when  he  was  quietly  settled  in  his  kingdom, 
he  forgot  himself  so  far  as  to  have  stumbled  mortally,  if  God  had 
not  had  compassion  upon  him. 

And  if  a  man  who  was  so  excellent  a  .  .  .'  both  trembles  and 
stumbles,  what  should  we  who  are  nothing  feel  ?  We  shall  have 
much  occasion  to  humble  ourselves,  keeping  ourselves  concealed 
under  the  wings  of  God  on  whom  should  repose  all  our  confi- 
dence. And  though  we  are,  as  it  were,  suspended  by  a  thread, 
we  should  trust  that  he  will  continue  to  protect  us  as  in  times 
past,  since  we  have  experienced  already  that  he  has  saved  us  in 
divers  ways. 

If  our  Lord  gives  us  prosperity,  we  rejoice.  But  when  we  are 
assailed  on  all  sides,  and  it  seems  that  there  is  a  host  of  evils 
encompassing  us,  we  ought  not  for  all  that  to  cease  to  have  con- 

'  A  word  is  here  left  in  blank  in  the  registers. 


FAREWELL    TO    THE    SEIGNEURS.  371 

fidence  in  him,  and  how  often  soever,  and  in  what  manner  soever 
we  may  be  taken  by  surprise,  let  us  know  that  it  is  God  who 
wills  to  awaken  us,  to  the  end,  that  we  may  humble  ourselves 
and  take  shelter  under  his  wings. 

And  if  we  desire  to  be  maintained  in  our  present  condition, 
we  must  beware  that  the  seat  in  which  we  have  been  placed  be 
not  dishonoured ;  for  he  says  he  will  honour  those  who  shall 
honour  him,  and  on  the  contrary  will  bring  to  disgrace  those 
who  shall  despise  him. 

There  is  no  superiority  but  from  God,  who  is  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords. 

This  is  said  in  order  that  we  may  serve  him  in  purity  accord- 
ing to  his  word,  and  think  of  him  more  than  ever.  For  we  are 
very  far  indeed  from  acquitting  ourselves  fully  of  that  duty,  and 
with  such  integrity  as  we  ought  to  do. 

For  the  rest,  he  has  said  that  all  our  conduct  and  whatever 
we  do  is  open  to  his  eyes;  we  stand  then  in  great  need  of  being 
exhorted. 

Every  one  has  his  imperfections.  It  is  our  duty  to  examine 
them.  Wherefore  let  each  one  look  to  himself  and  combat 
them. 

Some  are  indifferent,  absorbed  by  their  own  affairs,  and  but 
little  concerned  about  the  public  good ;  others  are  given  up  to 
their  passions. 

Others,  when  God  Iwis  bestowed  on  them  a  spirit  of  prudence, 
do  not  make  use  of  it. 

Others  are  wedded  to  their  opinions,  wishing  to  be  held  for 
oracles,  to  seem  something,  to  be  in  credit  and  reputation. 

Let  the  old  not  bear  envy  towards  the  young,  for  the  grace 
they  may  have  received,  but  let  them  rejoice  and  bless  God  for 
having  bestowed  it  on  them. 

Let  the  young  continue  to  be  modest,  without  wishing  to  put 
themselves  forward  too  much ;  for  there  is  always  a  boastful 
character  in  young  folks,  who  cannot  bridle  themselves,  and  who 
push  on  in  despising  others. 

Do  not  discourage  one  another,  be  not  an  obstacle  to  one 
another,  do  not  make  yourselves  odious  to  one  another.  For 
when  animosities  are  kindled,  people  fall  off  from  their  duty. 


oi2  FAREWELL   TO    THE    MINISTERS. 

And  to  avoid  inconveniences,  let  every  one  walk  according  to  liis 
rank,  and  busy  himself  according  as  God  has  given  him  means 
to  support  this  republic. 

As  to  civil  or  criminal  processes — cast  from  you  all  favour, 
hatred,  crooked  means,  recommendations,  and  renounce  all  self- 
interest,  holding  by  integrity  and  equity  ;  and  if  ever  you  are 
tempted  to  swerve  from  them,  resist  and  be  firm,  looking  unto 
Him  who  hath  established  us,  and  praying  him  to  conduct  us  by 
his  Holy  Spirit,  and  he  will  not  fail  us. 

Finally,  after  having  again  begged  to  be  excused  and  sup- 
ported in  Jiis  infirmities,  which  he  will  not  deny  (for  since  God 
and  the  angels  know  them,  he  will  not  deny  them  before  men), 
and  to  accept  with  good  will  his  small  labours,  he  prayed  God 
to  conduct  and  govern  us,  continually  increasing  his  grace  in 
us,  and  causing  it  to  turn  to  our  own  salvation  and  that  of  all 
this  poor  people.' 

[Orig.  Minute. — Arch,  of  Geneva,  1564.] 


Calvin's  Farewell  to  the  Ministers  of  Geneva. 

Taken  down  by  the  minister  Pinant." 

[On  Friday,  28th  April,  1564,  taken  down  by  (Pinant)  and 
written  as  pronounced  as  nearly  as  the  memory  could  preserve 
it  word  for  word,  though  in  a  slightly  different  order  with  re- 
spect to  some  words  and  phrases.] 

Brethren,  inasmuch  as  I  have  had  something  to  say  to  you, 

'  Whereupon,  says  Beza,  having  prayed  [Messeigneurs]  to  forgive  him  all  his  faults 
which  no  one  thought  greater  than  himself,  he  held  out  his  hand  to  them.  I  do  not 
know  if  there  could  have  happened  to  these  seigneurs  a  more  sad  spectacle,  who  all 
with  great  justice  considered  him,  in  respect  of  his  oflBce,  as  the  mouth  of  the  Lord, 
and  in  respect  of  his  aiFection  as  their  father.  Indeed  he  had  known  and  instructed 
a  part  of  them  from  their  youth. 

"There  exists  in  the  fine  archives  of  Colonel  Henry  Tronchin,  a  second  account  of 
Calvins'  Farewell  by  an  unknown  person,  B.  B.,  called  Corneille.  With  less  precision 
and  naivete,  in  the  details,  it  fully  confirms  the  exactness  of  the  former  in  all  essential 
points.  Perhaps  we  shall  give  the  reader  pleasure  in  quoting  as  variations,  some 
traits  borrowed  from  this  second  account,  likewise  unedited. 


FAREWELL   TO    THE    MINISTERS.  373 

•which  concerns  not  only  this  church,  but  also  several  others, 
which  in  a  eertain  manner  depend  on  it,  it  will  be  good  to  begin 
with  prayer,  in  order  that  God  may  give  me  grace  to  say  every 
thing  without  ambition,  always  having  a  respect  to  his  glory, 
and  also  that  every  one  may  retain  and  profit  by  what  shall  be 
said. 

It  may  be  thought  that  I  am  too  precipitate  in  concluding 
m^t  end  to  be  drawing  near,  and  that  I  am  not  so  ill  as  I  per- 
suade myself;  but  I  assure  you,  that  though  I  have  often  felt 
myself  very  ill,  yet  I  have  never  found  myself  in  such  a  state, 
nor  so  weak  as  I  am.  When  they  take  me  to  put  me  in  bed, 
my  head  fails  me  and  I  swoon  away  forthwith.  There  is  also 
this  shortness  of  breathing,  which  oppresses  me  more  and  more. 
I  am  altogether  different  from  other  sick  persons,  for  when  their 
end  is  approaching  their  senses  fail  them  and  they  become  de- 
lirious. With  respect  to  myself,  true  it  is  that  I  feel  stupefied, 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  God  wills  to  concentrate  all  my  senses 
within  me,*  and  I  believe  indeed  that  I  shall  have  much  diffi- 
culty and  that  it  will  cost  me  a  great  effort  to  dife.  I  may  per- 
haps lose  the  faculty  of  speech,  and  yet  preserve  my  sound 
sense  ;^  but  I  have  also  advertised  my  friends  of  that  and  told 
them  what  I  wished  them  to  do  for  me,  and  it  is  for  this  very 
reason  I  have  desired  to  speak  with  you  before  God  call  me 
away ;  not  that  God  may  not  indeed  do  otherwise  than  I  think ; 
it  would  be  temerity  on  my  part  to  wish  to  enter  into  his 
counsel. 

When  I  first  came  to  this  church,  I  found  almost  nothing  in 
it.^  There  was  preaching  and  that  was  all.  They  would  look 
out  for  idols  it  is  true,  and  they  burned  them.  But  there  was  no 
reformation.  Everything  was  in  disorder.  There  was  no  doubt 
the  good  man  Master  William,'*  and  then  blind  Courant  (not 


•  "As  to  his  senses  he  is  in  full  possession  of  them,  and  they  are  more  subtle  than 
ever,  but  nature  is  fast  sinking."   .  .     lielal.  de  B.  B.  dit  Comeille. 

'"That  he  has  often  predicted  that  he  should  be  deprived  of  speech  some  days  be- 
fore his  death,  and  he  still  believes  it."     Ibidem. 

3  "  When  he  came  to  this  town  ...  he  found  it  without  morals,  discipline,  or  life." 
Ibid. 

*rarel. 


374  FAREWELL    TO    THE    MINISTERS. 

born  blind,  but  he  became  so  at  Bale).^  There  was  besides 
Master  Antony  Saulnier,^  and  that  fine  preacher  Froment,  who 
having  laid  aside  his  apron  got  up  into  the  pulpit,  then  went 
back  to  his  shop  where  he  prated,  and  thus  gave  a  double 
sermon.^ 

I  have  lived  here  amid  continual  bickerings.  I  have  been 
from  derision  saluted  of  an  evening  before  my  door  with  forty 
or  fifty  shots  of  an  arquebuse.  How  think  you  must  that  have 
astonished  a  poor  scholar  timid  as  I  am,  and  as  I  have  always 
been,  I  confess?* 

Then  afterwards  I  was  expelled  from  this  town  and  went 
away  to  Strasbourg,  and  when  I  had  lived  there  some  time  I  was 
called  back  hither,  but  I  had  no  less  trouble  when  I  wished  to 
discharge  my  duty  than  heretofore.  They  set  the  dogs  at  my 
heels,  crying,  H^re!  here!^  and  these  snapped  at  my  gown  and 
my  legs.  I  went  my  way  to  the  council  of  the  two  hundred 
when  they  were  fighting,  and  I  kept  back  the  others  who  wanted 
to  go,  and  who  had  nothing  to  do  there ;  and  though  they  boast 
that  it  was  they  who  did  everything,  like  M.  de  Saulx,"  yet  I 
was  there,  and  as  I  entered,  people  said  to  me,  "  Withdraw,  sir, 
we  have  nothing  to  say  to  you."  I  replied,  "  I  will  do  no  such 
thing — come,  come,  wicked  men  that  you  are;  kill  me,  and  my 
blood  will  rise  up  against  you,  and  these  very  benches  will  re- 
quire it."  Thus  I  have  been  amid  combats,  and  you  will  expe- 
rience that  there  will  be  others  not  less  but  greater.     For  you 

'  Enlightening  souls — though  he  had  become  blind  as  to  his  body."  Hist.  Eccl., 
vol.  i.  p.  15. 

''Banished  from  Geneva  in  1638,  Saulnier  became  the  minister  of  the  Church  of 
Morges.     The  date  of  his  death  is  not  known. 

'It  is  known  that  Froment  first  presented  himself  at  Geneva  as  a  schoolmaster. 
Of  a  vain  and  inconstant  spirit,  he  was  incapable  of  maintaining  his  dignity  in  the 
glorious  part  of  a  missionary  of  the  Reformation.  In  1553  he  abandoned  the  office  of 
the  ministry,  bought  the  charge  of  a  notary,  and  merited  on  more  than  one  occasion 
for  his  inconsiderate  conduct  the  censures  of  the  seigneury. 

■*  .  .  .  "and  repeated  twice  or  thrice  these  words:  I  assure  you  I  am  naturally 
timid  and  fearful."  Beza,  Vie  de  Calvin.  The  same  confession  is  several  times  ex- 
pressed in  the  preface  of  the  Commentary  on  the  Psalms,  a  real  autobiography  of  the 
Reformer. 

^  Term  of  the  chase — a  young  fawn  of  a  year  old. 

®Is  it  the  minister  Nicholas  des  Gallars,  otherwise  called  M.  de  SauleS?  He  was 
pastor  in  1564  of  the  church  of  Orleans. 


FAREWELL    TO    THE    MINISTERS.  375 

are  a  perverse  and  unhappy  nation,  and  though  there  are  good 
rneu  in  it  the  nation  is  perverse  and  wicked,  and  you  will  have 
troubles  when  God  shall  have  called  me  away ;  for  though 
I  am  nothing,  yet  know  I  well  that  I  have  prevented*  three 
thousand  tumults  that  would  have  broken  out  in  Geneva.'  But 
take  courage  and  fortify  yourselves,  for  God  will  make  use  of 
this  church  and  will  maintain  it,  and  assures  you  that  he  will 
protect  it. 

I  have  had  many  infirmities  which  you  have  been  obliged  to 
bear  with,  and  what  is  more,  all  I  have  done  has  been  worth 
nothing.  The  ungodly  will  greedily  seize  upon  this  word,  but 
I  say  it  again  that  all  I  have  done  has  been  worth  nothing,  and 
that  I  am  a  miserable  creature.  But  certainly  I  can  say  this 
that  I  have  willed  what  is  good,  that  my  vices  have  always  dis- 
pleased me,  and  that  the  root  of  the  fear  of  God  has  been  in  my 
heart;  and  you  may  say  that  the  disposition  was  good;  and  I 
pray  you,  that  the  evil  be  forgiven  me,  and  if  there  was  any 
good,  that  you  conform  yourselves  to  it  and  make  it  an  ex- 
ample.'^ 

As  to  my  doctrine,  I  have  taught  faithfully,  and  God  has 
given  me  grace  to  write  what  I  have  written  as  faithfully  as  it 
was  in  my  power.  I  have  not  falsified  a  single  passage  of  the 
Scriptures,  nor  given  it  a  wrong  interpretation  to  the  best  of 
my  knowledge;  and  though  I  might  have  introduced  subtle 
senses,  had  I  studied  subtilty,  I  cast  that  temptation  under  my 
feet  and  always  aimed  at  simplicity.^ 

I  have  written  nothing  out  of  hatred  to  any  one,  but  I  have 
always  faithfully  propounded  what  I  esteemed  to  be  for  the  glory 
of  God. 

As  to  our  internal  state,  you  have  elected  M.  Beza  to  hold 
my  place.  Advise  how  to  relieve  him,  for  the  charge  is  great, 
and  so  weighty  that  he  might  well  sink  under  the  load.     But 

' "  That  this  town  would  be  assaulted  from  without,  but  that  God  wished  to  make 
use  of  it,  who  ought  to  be  for  us  an  inexpugnable  rock  to  induce  us  not  to  quit  it." 
Relat.  de  B.  B,  dit  Corneille, 

""  He  prays  his  brethren  to  forgive  him  for  having  been  so  violent,  choleric,  and 
hasty."     Ibid, 

'"  Made  no  use  of  sophistry,  and  wishes  to  live  and  die  in  the  doctrine  which  he 
had,  and  pr.ays  his  brethren  to  persevere  in  it."     Tbid. 


o.O  FAKEWELL   TO   THE   MINISTERS. 

advise  how  to  support  him.  Of  him  I  know  that  he  has  a  good 
will  and  will  do  what  he  can. 

Let  every  one  consider  the  obligation  which  he  has  not  only 
to  this  church  but  also  to  the  city,  which  you  have  promised 
to  serve  in  adversity  as  well  as  in  prosperity;  thus  let  each 
keep  by  his  vocation  and  not  endeavour  to  retire  from  it 
nor  enter  into  cabals.  For  when  people  go  under  ground 
to  seek  for  shifts,  they  may  say  indeed  that  they  did  not 
reflect,  and  that  they  did  aim  at  this  or  that.  But  let  them 
consider  the  obligation  that  they  have  here  contracted  before 
God. 

And  study  too  that  that  there  be  no  bickerings  or  sharp 
words  among  you,  as  sometimes  biting  gibes  will  be  bandied 
about. ^  This  will  take  place,  it  is  true,  in  laughing,  but  there 
will  be  bitterness  in  the  heart.  All  that  is  good  for  nothing, 
and  is  even  contrary  to  a  Christian  disposition.  You  should 
then  guard  against  it,  and  live  in  good  accord  and  all  friendship 
and  sincerity.^ 

I  had  forgotten  this  point :  I  pray  you  make  no  change,  no 
innovation.  People  often  ask  for  novelties.  Not  that  I  desire 
for  my  own  sake  out  of  ambition  that  what  I  have  established 
should  remain,  and  that  people  should  retain  it  without  wishing 
for  something  better,  but  because  all  changes  are  dangerous  and 
sometimes  hurtful. 

On  my  return  from  Strasbourg,  I  composed  the  catechism 
and  in  haste,  for  I  would  never  accept  the  ministry  till  they 
had  taken  an  oath  respecting  these  two  points:  namely,  to 
preserve  the  catechism  and  discipline;  and  while  I  was  writing 
it,  they  came  to  fetch  bits  of  paper  as  big  as  my  hand  and  carry 
them  to  the  printing  office.  Though  Master  Peter  Viret  was 
then  in  this  town,  do  you  think  I  ever  showed  him  a  word  of  it  ? 
I  never  had  leisure;  I  have  sometimes  indeed  thought  of  putting 
a  finishing  hand  to  it  if  I  had  had  leisure. 

As  to  the  prayers  for  the  Sabbath  I  adopted  the  form  of 

'  "He  has  not  known  such  love  and  kindly  feeling  to  exist  among  you  as  he  could 
have  wished,  but  rather  covert  piques  and  banterings.  That  all  should  be  on  a  more 
friendly  footing  than  formerly."     Ihid. 

"  "  Love  one  another,  support  one  another.     Let  there  be  no  envy."     Ibid. 


FAREWELL   TO   THE   MINISTERS.  377 

Strasbourg,  and  borrowed  the  greater  part  of  it.  Of  the  other 
prayers,  I  could  not  take  any  part  from  that  formulary,  for  it 
contained  nothing  of  the  kind ;  but  I  took  the  whole  from  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

I  was  also  obliged  to  compose  a  formulary  of  baptism  when  I 
was  at  Strasbourg,  where  people  brought  me  the  children  of 
Anabaptists  from  five  or  six  leagues  ofi"  to  have  them  baptized. 
I  then  composed  this  unpolished  formulary,  which  I  would  not 
advise  you,  notwithstanding,  to  change. 

The  Church  of  (Berne)'  has  betrayed  this  one,  and  they 
have  always  feared  me  more  than  they  loved  me.  I  am  desirous 
they  should  know  that  I  died  in  the  opinion  that  they  feared 
rather  than  loved  me,  and  even  now  they  fear  me  more  than 
they  love  me,  and  have  always  been  afraid  lest  I  should  disturb 
them  about  their  eucharisty.* 

This  remark  ought  to  have  been  introduced  before  in  some 
place  of  which  I  have  not  a  distinct  recollection. 

He  made  use  of  the  aforesaid  words.  I  have  not  set  them 
down  in  doubt  or  uncertainty.  I  doubt  not  but  he  himself 
would  have  set  them  down  better,  and  would  have  said  more. 
But  what  I  did  not  recollect  with  the  most  perfect  distinctness 
I  have  left  out.  He  took  a  courteous  leave  of  all  the  brethren 
who  shook  him  by  the  hand,  one  after  the  other,  all  melting 
into  tears. 

Written  the  Ist  day  of  May,  1564,  on  the  27th  day  of  which 
month  he  died.^ 

Ultima  Calvinus  nobis  quae  verba  locutus, 
Quae  meminisse  mihi  licuit,  certoque  referre, 
,  Hie  mihi  descripsi  monumentum,  sed  mihi  soli. 

J.  P.  M.-* 

'  There  is  a  blank  space  left  for  a  word  in  the  two  narratives. 

'"That  those  of  .  .  .  betrayed  this  church  at  the  time  of  his  banishment  for  the 
sake  of  the  eucharisty  and  even  now  fear  him  more  than  they  love  him.  IIo  desires 
that  they  should  know  that  he  departed  this  life  with  such  an  opinion  of  them." 
Relut.  de  B.  B.  dit  Corneille. 

'  "In  the  Minutes  of  the  Consistory  of  Geneva,  we  read  these  words  with  a  simple 
cross  t  opposite  to  the  name  of  Calvin  :  "  Gone  to  God,  May  27th  of  the  present  year, 
between  8  and  9  o'clock,  P.  M." 

■"Jean  Pinant,  minister. 

48 


378  FAREWELL   TO    THE    MINISTERS. 

["The  last  words  which  Calvin  addressed  to  us,  as  far  as 
I  could  remember,  and  with  certainty  relate  them,  I  have 
here  written  down  as  a  memorial  for  myself,  but  for  myself 
alone."] 

[Orig.  Minute. — Arch,  of  M.  Tronchin  at  Geneva^ 


APPENDIX. 


(379 


APPENDIX. 


I. — To  Francis  Daniel.' 

Preparations  for  his  departure  for  Switzerland — Recommendation  of  a  physician. 

Pauis,  1534. 
I  had  resolved  not  to  write  to  you  at  so  unpropitious  a 
moment,  but  a  subject  for  doing  so  has  presented  itself  to  me, 
which  I  could  not  anticipate.  AYhile  I  was  occupied  with  the 
preparations  for  my  departure  I  had  a  severe  attack  of  diarrhaea, 
to  check  which  I  called  in  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  a  man  well 
skilled  in  the  healing  art,  and  perfectly  free  from  quackery. 
While  treating  me  he  mentioned  his  intention  of  going  to  settle 
at  Orleans,  where  he  expects  to  find  a  good  opening  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  profession.  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  furnish 
him  with  a  letter  of  recommendation,  that  he  might  not  arrive 
in  your  city  a  stranger  to  everybody.  I  ask  of  you  then,  as  a 
pledge  of  our  friendship,  to  welcome  him  and  give  him  what 
assistance  maybe  in  your  power.  I  am  not  ignorant  how  grave 
a  responsibility  he  assumes,  who  recommends  a  physician,  for 
should  you  commend  an  unworthy  one,  you  hold  out  a  sword  to 
an  assassin  for  the  destruction  of  the  public,  as  you  prepare  the 
way  for  one   to   inflict   death    on   great   numbers ;    since   the 

'  Without  a  date.  Written  according  to  all  probability  from  Paris,  in  June  or  July, 
1534,  at  the  moment  when  Calvin  was  preparing  to  quit  France  in  order  to  retire  to 
Switzerland. 

(381) 


382  BUCER.  [1538. 

physician,  as  it  has  been  remarked,  may  commit  murder  with 
impunity.  Of  this  man,  however,  I  am  not  afraid  to  affirm  that 
he  is  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  theory  of  his  art,  and  so  well 
versed  in  its  practice  as  not  readily  to  make  any  slips  from  igno- 
rance. With  that,  his  probity  is  equal  to  his  talent.  For  these 
things  I  pledge  my  honour  both  to  you  and  others,  and  I  beg 
you  to  do  all  in  your  power  to  induce  those  to  have  recourse 
with  all  confidence  to  his  talents,  who  otherwise  might  not 
venture,  where  their  lives  are  at  stake,  to  make  trial  of  a  man 
quite  unknown.  What  my  projects  are,  you  already  know  from 
our  friend  Francis,  and  you  may  learn  from  the  bearer.  Salute 
for  me,  your  mother,  wife,  sister,  etc. 

John  Calvin. 

[Laf.  Orig. — Library  of  Berne.     Vol.  141.] 


II.— To  BUCER.I 

Unsuccessful  results  of  the  Colloquy  of  Berne — Saeramentarian  discord — Remarkable 
judgment  concerning  Luther — Violence  of  the  Bernese  Minister  Conzen — Appeal 
to  Bucer. 

Geneva,  12th  January,  1538. 

I  have  a  good  many  things  to  write  to  you  about,  things  too 
by  no  means  agreeable,  had  I  a  little  more  leisure ;  write  how- 

'  One  of  the  first  acts  of  Farel  and  Calvin  during  their  common  ministry  at  Geneva, 
was  the  drawing  up  of  a  confession  of  faith  which  the  citizens  solemnly  took  oath  to 
observe.  But  this  confession  resolutely  opposed  by  an  ardent  minority,  which  was 
at  a  later  period  stigmatized  under  the  name  of  the  Libertines,  encountered  every  day 
grave  difficulties  in  practice,  particularly  in  what  concerned  ecclesiastical  excommu- 
nication. The  Seigneurs  of  Berne,  chosen  for  arbiters,  showed  themselves  but  little 
disposed  to  resolve  the  difficulties  in  a  sense  conformable  to  the  wishes  of  the  minis- 
ters. Pre-occupied  above  all  by  the  rights  of  the  civil  authority  and  the  demands  of 
external  unity,  they  urged  the  ministers  of  Geneva  to  conform  to  the  usages  of  the 
Church  of  Berne,  "in  order  to  deprive  their  enemies  of  every  subject  of  calumny." 
Whilst  at  Berne  they  communicated  with  unleavened  bread,  administered  baptism  on 
fonts  of  stone,  and  celebrated  the  great  religious  festivals,  not  one  of  these  usages  was 
followed  at  Geneva,  and  this  difference  in  practice  occasioned  much  coldness  between 
the  two  churches.  Several  Bernese  ministers  had  even  been  censured  and  revoked 
for  having  shown  themselves  too  favourable  to  the  doctrine  of  Calvin.  Among  them 
was  Gaspar  Megander.  (Vol.  i.  p.  47,  141).  Calvin  deplored  these  differences  be- 
tween the  Swiss  Churches,  just  as  he  bewailed  the  discords  which  the  Saeramentarian 


1538.]  BUCER.  383. 

ever  I  must,  as  much  as  m^  very  limited  time  ■will  permit,  since 
to  me  it  will  be  no  slight  consolation,  to  confide  to  your  friendly 
bosom,  the  evils  which  oppress  us.  In  the  letter  which  I  wrote 
to  Capito  from  Berne,  I  exulted  as  if  matters  had  been  termi- 
nated to  our  satisfaction ;  and  who  would  have  entertained  any 
doubts  about  the  success  of  so  jiood  a  cause  ?  For  our  confes- 
sion,  which  was  then  the  point  in  question,  was  judged  by  the 
ministers  to  be  a  devout  production,  and  an  oath  in  confirmation 
of  it  was  with  the  highest  propriety  exacted  by  the  people;  what 
remained  but  that  a  deputation  should  be  named  to  cure  the 
wound  which  had  been  inflicted  by  the  former  deputies  of  Berne  ? 
That  was  not  obtained  without  the  greatest  difficulty,  but  when 
even  those  who  were  actuated  by  the  most  iniquitous  sentiments 
could  not  oppose  our  demand,  deputies  were  appointed  to  settle 
this  question,  who  it  was  very  sure  would  never  undertake  the 
task  for  which  they  had  been  selected.  As  soon  as  they  re- 
fused, the  duty  was  entrusted  to  those  among  whom  the  evil  had 
arisen ;  but  that  you  may  understand  how  little  seriousness  there 
was  in  this  measure,  the  moment  that  the  feeblest  rumor  of 
public  report  indicated  to  what  issue  things  so  well  prepared 
were  tending,  these  new  deputies  were  immediately  recalled. 

I  dare  not  give  way  to  too  malignant  suspicions,  but  all  de- 
clare that  those  who  take  such  delight  in  distuabances  and  sedi- 
tions are  watching  for  an  opportunity  of  making  innovations. 
A  short  time  after  that,  it  was  announced  that  Megander  had 
left  the  country  by  a  sentence  of  banishment.  This  news  was 
as  great  a  blow  to  us  as  if  we  had  heard  that  the  Church  of 
Berne  had  for  the  most  part  fallen  off.  I  begin  to  fear,  my  dear 
Bucer,  that  we  are  aiming  at  an  agreement '  which  will  have  to 

question  had  given  birth  to  in  Germany,  and  without  perhaps  making  all  the  conces- 
sions necessary  to  appease  them,  he  pronounced  the  most  remarkable  judgment  re- 
specting Luther,  while  at  the  same  time  he  addressed  to  Bucer  pressing  exhortations 
to  determine  him  to  accomplish  unequiTocally  and  without  weakness  his  duties  as  a 
conciliator  between  the  parties. 

'  Calvin  had  drawn  up  in  concert  with  Bucer,  Capito,  Farel,  and  Viret,  a  declara- 
tion on  the  subject  of  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper,  which,  keeping  at  an  equal 
distance  from  the  interpretation  of  Luther  and  that  of  Zwingli,  seemed  calculated  to 
conciliate  people's  minds,  (Opera,  vol.  ix.  p.  ,)  but  it  only  envenomed  the  discords 
which  were  destined  at  a  later  period,  in  Germany  especially,  to  end  in  a  veritable 
persecution  against  the  Calvinists. 


.  384  BUCER.  [1538. 

be  sanctioned  by  the  sacrifice  and  blood  of  many  pious  men,  nor 
is  this  the  phrase  of  a  man  who  wishes  to  draw  back,  but  of  one 
who  desires  such  an  agreement  as  all  good  men  could  join  us  in. 
And  if  we  have  this  at  heart,  all  those  perplexing  difficulties 
which  it  seems  might  restrain  the  more  timid,  will  be  swept 
away.  But  these,  which  we  ourselves  thought  were  to  be  op- 
posed, are  that  Luther  should  not  give  scope  to  his  wild  fancy, 
about  our  flesh  being  as  it  were  a  grafF  into  that  of  Christ's,  or 
that  of  Christ's  into  ours,  nor  feign  that  Christ's  body  is  of  in- 
finite extension,  nor  impose  upon  us  a  local  presence:  for  there 
is  hardly  any  one  of  those  who  have  hitherto  protested  who  does 
not  suspect  something  of  this  kind.  If  Luther  can  cordially 
accept  of  us  along  with  our  confession,  there  is  nothing  which  I 
could  more  willingly  desire ;  but  in  the  mean  time  he  is  not  the 
only  one  in  the  church  of  God  to  be  looked  up  to.  For  we 
should  be  cruel  and  barbarous  if  we  made  no  account  of  the 
many  thousands  who  are  cruelly  domineered  over  under  pretext 
of  that  agreement. 

What  to  think  of  Luther  I  know  not,  though  I  am  thoroughly 
convinced  of  his  piety;  but  I  wish  it  were  false,  what  is  com- 
monly said  by  most  people,  who  in  other  respects  would  be  very 
unwilling  to  be  unjust  to  him,  that  with  his  firmness  there  is 
mixed  up  a  good  deal  of  obstinacy.  His  conduct  affords  us  no 
slight  grounds  for  entertaining  this  suspicion.  If  that  is  true 
which  I  understood  to  be  rumored  about  lately  in  the  churches 
of  Wurtemberg,  that  they  had  compelled  nearly  all  the  churches 
to  recognize  error,  how  much  vainglory,  pray,  is  there  in  such 
conduct?  If  we  were  not  afflicted  with  the  malady  of  ambition, 
would  it  not  have  been  enough  for  us  that  Christ  should  be 
deemed  veracious,  and  that  his  truth  should  shine  forth  in  the 
hearts  of  men  ?  I  see  indeed  what  will  come  of  all  this.  Nothing 
can  be  safe  as  long  as  that  rage  for  contention  shall  agitate  us. 
All  recollections  of  past  times  must  then  be  buried  in  oblivion, 
if  we  look  for  a  solid  peace.  For  the  contest  was  so  keen  and 
so  much  embittered,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  bring  it  to  mind 
without  kindling  at  least  some  sparks  of  strife;  and  if  Luther 
has  so  great  a  lust  of  victory,  he  will  never  be  able  to  join  along 
with  us  in  a  sincere  agreement  respecting  the  pure  truth  of  God. 


1538.]  BUCER.  385 

For  he  lias  sinned  against  it  not  only  from  vainglory  and  abusive 
language,  but  also  from  ignorance  and  the  grossest  extravagance. 
For  what  absurdities  he  pawned  upon  us  in  the  beginning,  when 
he  said  the  bread  is  the  very  body  !  And  if  now  he  imagines 
that  the  body  of  Christ  is  enveloped  by  the  bread,  I  judge  that 
he  is  chargeable  with  a  very  foul  error.  What  can  I  say  of  the 
partisans  of  that  cause  ?  Do  they  not  romance  more  wildly  than 
Marcion  respecting  the  body  of  Christ  ?  If  the  Swiss  should  take 
upon  them  to  inveigh  against  such  mistakes,  how  would  this  pave 
the  way  for  an  agreement? 

Wherefore  if  you  have  any  influence  or  authority  over  Martin, 
use  it  to  dispose  him  to  prefer  subduing  to  Christ,  rather  than  to 
himself,  those  with  whom  he  has  hitherto  wrangled  in  the  most 
inauspicious  of  strifes;  nay,  that  he  himself  submit  to  the  truth 
which  he  is  now  manifestly  attacking.  Here  what  should  have 
been  done  was  that  every  one  should  ingenuously  confess  of  his 
own  accord  his  own  error,  and  I  could  not  help  protesting  to 
you  as  I  think  you  yourself  recollect,  that  those  wily  insinua- 
tions by  which  you  attempted  to  excuse  yourself  and  Zwingli 
displeased  me.  It  is  not  in  the  mean  time  by  any  means  becoming 
to  insult  one  another.  Would  that  all  these  reproaches  might 
fall  upon  my  head,  and  yet  I  am  fully  convinced  in  my  own 
mind  that  I  have  never  been  so  abandoned  by  God  since  I  began 
to  taste  of  his  word,  as  not  to  preserve  a  pious  sense  of  tlie  use 
of  the  sacraments  and  of  our  participation  of  the  bod}^  of  Christ. 
There  is  nothing  certainly  in  ni}'  introduction  to  contradict  this; 
and  even  should  we  grant  that  there  was  an  absurd  shame  in 
one  party  of  confessing  their  fault,  who  would  not  after  all  ex- 
cuse this  feeling  compared  with  what  is  said  of  the  insolent  fury 
of  Martin  ? 

Wherefore,  my  dear  Bucer,  you  must  strive  that  all  things  be 
properly  adjusted  on  both  sides.  A  difficult  task,  you  will  say; 
I  admit  it,  certainly ;  but  since  you  have  taken  it  upon  you, 
you  must  labour  seriously,  I  do  not  say  to  fulfil  it,  but  to  en- 
deavour to  do  so.  How  intolerable  do  you  think  it  appears 
that  so  many,  and  by  no  means  contemptible  churches  of  the 
whole  of  Saxony,  when  they  have  shown  their  readiness  to 
come  to  an  equitable  agreement,  should  be  kept  so  long  in 
49 


386  BUCER.  [1538. 

suspense!  If  then  you  ask  of  the  Swiss  to  lay  aside  their  ob- 
stinacy, contrive  that  Luther  in  his  turn  cease  to  bear  himself 
so  imperiously.  But  I  return  to  Megander  (Grossman).  He 
was  forced  to  go  into  exile,  because  he  could  not  bear  to  sub- 
scribe to  your  corrections.'  Will  you  not  say  it  was  sufficient 
cause  for  bearing  hard  upon  him,  that  without  reason  he  opposed 
the  truth?  What  would  you  say  if  on  the  contrary  he  was  pre- 
pared without  any  constraint  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth? 
What  then  was  the  cause  why  he  did  not  accept  the  things 
which  had  been  well  said  by  another?  Grant  that  here  he 
showed  some  of  that  infirmity  which  is  incident  to  our  nature : 
was  it  not  better  that  such  a  man  should  have  been  retained, 
by  looking  over  that  trifling  weakness,  than  that  he  should  be 
driven  from  his  ministry  with  so  much  scandal,  to  the  great 
contempt  of  God  everywhere,  with  so  great  a  loss  to  the  church, 
and  greater  danger  for  the  time  to  come?  How  saucily  the 
enemies  of  the  gospel  now  triumph  on  all  sides,  because  pastors 
begin  to  be  driven  into  exile!  How  licentiously  they  make 
a  mock  of  the  gospel  of  God !  In  what  derision  they  hold  us, 
who,  having  the  most  powerful  and  well  appointed  adversaries 
drawn  up  in  battle  array  against  us,  are  nevertheless  dispatching 
one  another  with  mutual  wounds !  What  moreover  will  the  weak 
do  when  they  see  their  pastors  punished  with  exile  on  whose 
mouths  they  formerly  hung  ? 

Finally  you  are  not  aware  how  immense  the  loss  which  the 
Church  of  Berne  has  sustained  in  being  despoiled  of  such  a 
pastor.  I  confidently  declare,  you  do  not  know  what  we  all 
know,  viz:  that  in  this  matter  you  are  blinded,  or  certainly 
grievously  mistaken.  Sebastian  (the  elder)  and  Conzen  no 
doubt  are  left  to  them.  But  what  can  the  former  of  these  do, 
but  subvert  by  his  wild  errors  the  purity  of  the  gospel  ?  For  I 
lately  detected  what  superstitious  principles  he  cherishes,  with 
what  difiiculty  he  admitted  that  the  dogma  of  the  schoolmen 
about  the  seven  sacraments  is  but  empty  trifling,  and  how 
wickedly  he  fumed  up  because  marriage  and  absolution  were 
not  received  by  us  into  the  number  of  the  sacraments.  And 
should  we  wink  at  these  absurdities,  he  is  not  the  less,  as  all 

'  On  Megander's  catechism. 


1538.]  BUCEK.  387 

men  see,  totally  unequal  to  the  task  of  governing  the  church, 
especially  in  times  so  difficult.  He  has  so  bad  a  memory  withal 
that  he  stutters  and  hesitates  at  every  third  word.  If  you  irri- 
tate him,  he  is  carried  away  by  the  violence  of  his  temper  to 
such  a  degree  as  no  longer  to  seem  in  his  right  senses ;  and  if 
you  assent  to  him,  you  may  lead  him  like  a  child  wherever  you 
please.  You  will  say  that  I  am  accustomed  to  fulminate  in  my 
letters,  but  to  soften  down  when  I  come  to  grapple  with  actual 
business.  Certainly  it  is  not  one  of  my  habits  to  wrangle.  But 
I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  what  I  feel  in  plain  words,  both 
before  people's  faces  and  in  my  letters.  You  will  estimate  that 
disposition  as  you  please,  but  when  I  have  carefully  weighed  how 
much  sincerity  is  preferable  to  cunning,  I  fancy  you  will  not 
think  I  should  do  such  violence  to  my  natural  character  as  not 
frankly  to  open  my  mind  to  you  about  what  I  see  to  be  true,  for 
I  know  the  man  to  whom  I  reveal  my  thoughts.  I  dare  hardly 
express  what  sort  of  person  Conzen  is.  By  your  moderation 
and  forbearance  indeed  he  seemed  to  us  a  little  tamed,  and  a 
short  while  ago,  he  made  a  wonderful  show  of  activity  in  our 
business;  the  moment  is  gone  by,  and  he  is  become  worse  than 
his  very  self.  Farel  declares  he  never  saw  a  wild  beast  more 
rabid,  than  he  found  him  lately.  His  countenance,  gestures, 
words,  his  very  colour  breathed,  as  he  says,  fury.  What- 
ever excuses  therefore  may  be  made  for  him  hereafter,  until  I 
perceive  that  he  is  changed,  I  shall  deem  him  charged  with 
venom,  for  what  is  his  reason,  pray,  for  hating  us  so  mortally, 
as  to  be  incessantly  plotting  against  us  every  extremity  of  evil? 
If  you  are  not  convinced  of  this,  the  Lord  sees  it,  who  in  time 
will  show  himself  an  avenger,  and  satisfied  with  his  judgment, 
we  are  not  very  anxiously  concerned  about  the  opinions  of  the 
mass  of  men,  though  we  make  it  our  study  so  to  conduct  our- 
selves that  no  one  maybe  able  with  justice  to  condemn  us.  For 
which  reason  we  act  towards  him  so  that  he  may  understand 
that  we  are  not  unfriendly  to  him,  however  hostile  he  may  be  to 
us ;  we  soothe  him  with  so  much  moderation  that  he  cannot  give 
loose  to  his  fury  against  us  unless  by  an  act  of  open  insanity. 
In  our  judgments  I  confess  we  differ  as  widely  as  possible  from 
him,  for  those  whom  he  raises  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  we 


388  BUCER.  [1538. 

deem  very  fit  subjects  for  the  gallows.  And  that  you  may  know 
how  preposterously  he  acts,  I  will  tell  you  that  the  good  men 
who  have  been  approved  by  us,  he  dare  not  choose,  unless  they 
have  been  examined  by  the  whole  class  of  that  district  for  which 
they  are  intended ;  but  those  who  have  by  the  whole  class 
been  judged  unworthy,  he  not  only  invests  with  ecclesiastical 
functions,  but  cherishes  as  his  bosom  companions.  Those  who 
have  been  stigmatized  as  Anabaptists,  or  detected  in  thefts,  he 
obtrudes  on  the  unwilling  brethren.  In  the  mean  time  the  most 
pious,  learned,  and  prudent  man  in  this  neighbourhood  is  called 
in  question  by  two  magistrates,  apprehended,  vexed  with  more 
than  usual  inhumanity,  and  treated  with  an  extreme  violence  by 
those  two  creatures  of  Konzen's,  plying  all  their  arts  to  ruin 
him.  What  can  we  augur  from  such  beginnings  ?  While  he 
thinks  he  is  getting  up  scourges  to  lash  us,  I  suspect  he  is  plot- 
ting his  own  destruction.  And  in  sooth,  if  such  be  the  will  of 
the  Lord,  may  he  be  caught  in  the  snare  which  he  has  set,  and 
fall  headlong  into  the  pit  he  has  dug,  rather  than  he  should 
create  so  many  vexations  to  the  church  of  Christ  any  longer. 
What  renders  your  cause  so  very  odious  to  many  judicious  men. 
at  Berne,  is  that,  their  pastor  being  sent  into  banishment,  they 
see  this  truculent  wild  beast  left  among  them.  To  what  pur- 
pose these  complaints  ?  you  will  say.  To  this  end  then,  that,  if  it 
is  in  jonr  power,  you  diligently  cast  about  for  some  remedy. 
If  none  is  within  your  reach,  that  along  with  us  you  pray  the 
Lord,  that  he  would  not  suffer  us  to  be  driven  from  the  right 
path  by  these  menaced  terrors,  but  would  deliver  his  flock  from 
the  gluttony  of  beasts  of  prey. 

And  now,  we  think  it  expedient  (I  speak  in  my  own  name 
and  in  that  of  my  colleagues)  to  put  in  a  word  of  admonition  for 
yourself,  and  we  venture  to  take  that  liberty  with  you,  trusting 
to  the  singular  moderation  of  your  character.  What  we  would 
suggest  to  your  consideration  is  this:  In  expounding  the  word 
of  God,  and  especially  in  those  points  that  are  so  much  the  sub- 
ject of  controversy  in  our  day,  you  study  to  soften  down  your 
expressions,  so  as  to  give  offence  to  as  few  persons  as  possible. 
You  do  so,  we  are  persuaded,  with  the  best  intentions.  But  this 
manner  of  proceeding  meets  with  our  greatest  disapprobation. 


1538.]  BUCER.  380 

You  know  that  we  formerly  expressed  our  sentiments  on  that 
subject,  and  now  we  are  compelled  to  reiterate  anew  the  old  com- 
plaint, because  we  perceive  that  those  precautions  of  yours  to 
treat  all  things  smoothly  is  becoming  every  day  more  hurtful. 
I  know  what  you  used  to  allege  as  an  excuse — that  the  minds 
of  the  more  simple  are  not  to  be  alienated  from  religion  by  con- 
tentious disputes,  whom  it  were  better  to  attract  by  every  means, 
provided  they  be  conciliated  by  nothing  which  may  not  be  con- 
ceded without  impiety.  I  answer  you,  as  I  always  have  done, 
if  you  wish  to  make  Christ  acceptable  to  all,  you  are  not,  how- 
ever, to  construct  a  new  gospel ;  and  certainly  it  is  manifest  to 
what  these  things  will  tend.  When  you  have  heard  that  the 
invocation  of  the  saints  was  devised  by  the  superstition  of  men 
rather  than  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  you  immediately  add, 
however,  we  owe  that  deference  to  the  authority  of  the  holy 
fathers  that  an  invocation  of  the  kind  that  is  recommended  in 
their  writings  is  not  to  be  entirely  condemned.  Thus  you  are 
continually  in  the  habit  of  obtruding  their  authority  under 
colour  of  which  any  falsity  may  pass  for  truth. 

Is  it  truly  sanctifying  God,  to  pay  such  deference  to  men,  as 
that  his  truth  should  not  alone  bear  sway  over  us  ?  Does  that  man 
not  sufficiently  honour  the  fathers  who  conceives  that  they  are 
not  to  be  contemned,  even  though  they  are  found  to  have  erred 
in  many  things?  If  human  wantonness  cannot  be  restrained, 
but  must  needs  go  farther  and  farther  astray  when  once  you 
have  given  it  loose  reins,  what  moderation,  pray,  shall  we  keep, 
when  it  shall  be  granted  that  we  may  with  impunity  overstep 
the  limits  of  God's  word?  Nor  is  it  in  one  point  you  do  that, 
but  everywhere  you  seem  to  wish  to  share  a  kind  of  divided 
empire  between  Christ  and  the  Pope.  We  do  not  say  that  you 
actually  do  this ;  we  do  not  even  suspect  it.  But  quick-sighted 
people  who  are  of  a  wily  turn  of  mind  fancy  they  can  detect 
such  a  tendency,  while  the  more  simple  interpreting  your  con- 
duct as  a  retraction  of  the  truth  are  thrown  into  terrible  per- 
plexity. You  began  this  practice  in  your  commentaries  on  the 
psalms,  a  work  but  for  that  of  superlative  merit,  but  that  pious 
shuffling  of  yours,  under  another  title,  was  to  a  certain  extent 
overlooked,  though  to  confess  to  you  frankly,  it  always  appeared 


390  BUCER.  [1538. 

to  me  a  thing  utterly  intolerable  that  in  the  work  in  question 
you  overturned  from  its  foundations  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith,  yet  people  thought  they  might  in  some  measure  tolerate 
a  treasure  so  precious  in  certain  respects  to  be  disseminated 
over  all  Europe.  Bnt  when  your  celebrated  pamphlet  against 
Cerealis  began  to  be  read,  there  was  no  pious  man  who  did  not 
exclaim,  that  it  was  a  most  unworthy  thing  that  the  gospel 
should  be  shrouded  under  so  many  enigmatical  explications  by 
such  a  preacher  of  the  gospel.  It  is  a  book  which  no  one  will 
deny  to  be  full  of  the  most  profound  erudition,  written,  with  ex- 
quisite art  and  no  ordinary  degree  of  research,  but  so  thickly 
bestowed  with  blemishes  that  many  people  would  wish  them 
corrected  by  a  single  sweeping  erasure.  I  doubt  not  but  you 
yourself  will  have  the  same  opinion  when  you  know  what  fruits 
this  book  will  produce  in  France  and  England.  Whatever  you 
published  since  has  likewise  an  admixture  of  baser  matter. 
And  do  not  fancy  that,  carried  away  by  any  desire  of  differing 
with  you,  I  am  judging  rather  unfairly  and  maliciously  of  your 
writings. 

The  Lord  is  my  witness  that  it  is  not  with  the  mind  alone, 
but  with  my  very  bowels,  that  I  dissent  as  often  as  I  see  that  I 
do  not  agree  with  pious  men,  and  especially  with  you  whose 
most  excellent  gifts  besides  your  piety  I  cannot  but  cherish  and 
look  up  to.  But  when  I  have  brought  myself  to  the  greatest 
kindliness  of  feeling,  still  there  are  certain  things  which  I  cannot 
assent  to  without  doing  violence  to  the  testimony  of  my  con- 
science. And  indeed,  I  am  wont  to  wonder  what  can  be  your 
drift  in  this  manner  of  acting.  For  while  you  exhort  us  to  seek 
for  an  agreement  with  Luther,  you  attach  just  so  much  value  to 
your  advice  as  to  affirm  that  nothing  should  appear  in  our  eyes 
of  greater  importance,  than  with  united  minds  and  arms  to  join 
in  battle  against  the  falsehoods  of  Satan.  In  that  moderation 
you  are  so  unlike  Luther,  that  I  imagine  he  himself  would  be 
more  gravely  offended  by  your  manner  of  acting,  should  he 
chance  to  light  upon  your  works,  than  he  formerly  was  with 
the  opinion  of  Zwingli  and  (Ecolampadius.  For  the  most  odious 
imputation  with  which  he  loaded  the  Sacramentarians  was  that 


1538.]  BUCER.  391 

by  tliem  justification  hj  faith  was  overthrown,  or  certainly  shaken 
and  compromised. 

These  things,  well  beloved  and  most  honoured  brother,  we 
jointly  complain  of  to  yourself,  not  without  the  most  poignant 
distress,  because  we  perceive  the  commencements  of  a  mighty 
ruin  to  many,  if  you  determine  to  go  on  as  you  have  begun. 
For  you  know  what  powerful  instruments  for  good  and  evil  those 
are  Avhora  the  Lord  has  furnished  and  equipped  with  superior 
learning,  genius,  and  wisdom.  Certainly  you  have  been  raised, 
to  such  an  eminence,  and  hold  such  a  rank  in  the  church  of  \ 
Christ,  that  most  men  have  their  eyes  fixed  on  you.  Wherefore  \ 
be  not  surprised  if  we  exact  more  rigidly  a  certain  faultless 
perfection  from  you,  than  we  generally  do  from  others,  since  we 
know  that  you  ought  to  march  in  the  van,  and  point  out  the 
way  to  vast  numbers.  When  we  petty  dwarfs  fail  in  our  duty, 
as  the  consequences  are  less  disastrous,  so  greater  indulgence  is 
shown  us.  But  you,  from  whose  example  much  more  serious 
evil  arises,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  church  to  confine  by  much  stricter 
ties.  May  the  Lord  preserve  you  and  increase  in  you  his  gifts, 
most  worthy  and  dearest  brother.  May  I  beg  of  you  to  salute 
Capito  very  respectfully  in  my  name.  Farel  and  two  of  my 
other  colleagues  salute  you  both. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

I  had  omitted  what  should  not  have  occupied  the  last  place 
in  my  letter.  All  the  ministers  that  officiate  in  the  churches 
of  our  neighbours,  have  been  interdicted  from  having  any  inter- 
course or  holding  any  communication  whatever  with  us.  See  to 
what  these  subjects  of  strife  lead — to  nothing  truly  but  the  total 
ruin  of  the  churches.  But  we  have  to  thank  Conzen  for  this 
good  turn. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Arch.  Eccl.  of  Berne.] 


392  BULLINGER.  [1538. 


III. — To    BULLINGER. 

An  account  of  the  conferences  at  Berne — Vain  attempt  at  reconciliation  between 
Geneva  and  the  exiled  ministers — Sad  state  of  this  church  after  the  banishment 
of  Farel  and  Calvin. 

Basle,  June,  1538. 

As  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  treat  with  you  in  your  presence,' 
which  is  what  we  should  above  all  desire,  we  have  recourse 
to  what  next  remains  to  us,  viz :  to  lay  before  you,  or  at  least 
slightly  indicate  by  letter,  the  main  points  of  our  business.  You 
already  knew  from  another  letter  that  at  length  on  the  8th  day 
after  our  arrival  at  Berne,  Konzen  and  Erasmus^  had  repaired 
thither.  They  seemed  to  have  been  in  no  great  hurry.  We 
thought  they  were  purposely  putting  our  patience  to  trial,  that, 
if  impatient  of  so  long  a  delay  we  had  thrown  up  the  cause,  the 
whole  blame  might  with  some  plausibility  be  thrown  upon  us. 

When    their    arrival    was    announced,    we    immediately    as- 

'  This  letter  signed  by  Farel  and  Calvin  contains  a  very  circumstantial  account  of 
the  events  which  took  place  between  their  banishment  from  Geneva  and  their  arrival 
at  Bale.  (April,  May,  1538).  After  having  appeared  at  the  Synod  of  Zurich,  they 
repaired  to  Berne  to  confer  with  the  ministers  of  that  city  on  some  points  in  dispute, 
and  lay  the  foundation  of  an  ecclesiastical  concord.  But  the  conferences  were  with- 
out any  result,  notwithstanding  the  conciliatory  spirit  of  which  Farel  and  Calvin  gave 
proofs  on  this  ocaasion,  and  the  intervention  of  the  Seigneurie  of  Berne  to  bring  them 
back  to  Geneva  was  equally  unsuccessful.  Calvin  had  already  explained  himself  re- 
specting the  controverted  points  with  the  Bernese  clergy,  and  had  given  a  summary 
of  his  opinion  in  a  short  memorial,  of  which  the  following  are  the  principal  points  : 
"  Of  the  three  articles  of  conformity  which  have  been  proposed  to  us,  the  first,  which 
concerns  the  establishment  of  baptismal  fonts,  we  have  already  declared  that  we  should 
by  no  means  object  to,  provided  that  in  other  things  nothing  which  has  been  observed 
hitherto  respecting  this  rite  be  changed ;  namely,  that  baptism  be  administered  at  the 
hours  in  which  the  church  is  wont  to  assemble,  and  that  the  doctrine  concerning  it 
be  read  from  the  pulpit,  that  it  may  be  the  more  distinctly  heard.  2.  In  the  change 
introduced  respecting  the  bread  we  feel  a  little  more  difficulty  ...  3.  Respecting 
the  festivals  we  are  in  very  great  perplexity.  4.  But  this  appear  to  us  the  best  and 
most  suitable  manner  of  settling  a  uniformity,  if  the  deputies  of  Berne  openly  attest 
that  they  by  no  means  censure  the  ceremonies  that  have  hitherto  been  observed  among 
us,  nor  desire  any  innovation  in  them  because  they  judge  them  contrary  to  the  purity 
of  Scripture,  but  that  they  have  in  view  nothing  but  unity  and  concord  which  are 
most  commonly  settled  on  a  more  solid  basis  by  a  similarity  of  rites." 

*  Erasmus  Ritter. 


1538.]  BULLINGER.  393 

sembled  in  Konzon's  house.  Sebastian '  and  Erasmus  were 
present.  Here  Konzen  began  with  long  expostulations,  a 
thing  for  which  we  were  by  no  means  prepared,  from  which 
at  last  he  made  a  transition  to  taunting  insults.  We  on  the 
contrary  endured  that  atrocity  with  as  much  good  temper  as 
we  were  masters  of,  because  we  saw  we  should  gain  nothing 
by  greater  vehemence,  except  to  stimulate  to  the  last  degree  of 
phrensy  a  man  who  was  already  mad  without  any  provocation. 
His  colleagues  also  assisted  us  in  calming  his  transports.  He 
then  began  to  ask  us  whether  we  wished  him  to  interpose  his 
services  in  the  settlement  of  our  business.  He  added,  as  a 
reason  for  declining  this  office,  that  he  foresaw  that  if  the  affair 
turned  out  badly  he  should  be  accused  by  us  of  bad  faith ;  and 
when  we  had  answered  three  several  times  that  it  was  not  our 
wish  to  take  from  him  the  task  which  he  had  once  undertaken, 
in  consequence  of  the  decree  of  Zurich,  he  nevertheless  kept  on 
repeating  every  now  and  then  the  same  cuckoo's  note.  Fatigued 
at  last  by  his  own  violent  humour,  he  pledged  himself  not  to 
abandon  us.  The  following  day  was  fixed  upon  for  pleading 
the  cause.  We  then  went  up  to  the  council  house.  After  a 
lapse  of  two  hours,  it  is  announced  that  the  ministers  were  too 
much  occupied  with  consistorial  business  to  have  leisure  to  at- 
tend to  us.  After  dinner  the  following  day  we  again  waited  on 
them,  but  found  them  then  still  less  prepared,  than  they  had'  been 
the  day  before,  for,  said  they,  they  had  to  consider  deliberately 
the  articles  which  had  been  submitted  by  us  to  the  meeting, 
but  they  had  resolved  that  we  should  have  a  full  and  patient 
hearing.  Though  we  saw  that  they  were  acting  unfairly  by  us, 
and  bore  that  indignity  without  expressing  our  feelings,  there 
was  scarcely  one  syllable  about  which  they  did  not  quibble. 
During  the  discussion  of  the  second  article,  which  treats  of  the 
nature  of  the  bread,  Conzen  could  no  longer  contain  himself, 
but  burst  out  into  many  scurrilities  of  which  we  shall  mention 
but  one  as  a  specimen.  For  he  reproached  all  the  churches  of 
Germany,  which  in  other  respects  were  tranquil,  with  having 
been  thrown  into  anarchy  by  us  from  an  importunate  affectation 
of  novelty.     We  replied  that  the  use  of  leavened  bread  had  not 

'  Sebastian  the  elder. 

50 


394  BULLINGER.  [1538. 

been  first  introduced  by  us,  but  bad  been  adopted  from  the 
ancient  practice  of  the  church  and  thus  handed  down  by  tradi- 
tion. Nay  even  among  the  Papists  there  had  existed  traces  of 
a  purer  form  in  administering  the  Lord's  supper,  in  which 
leavened  bread  was  distributed.  He  would  listen  to  no  reasons, 
but  always  stormed  more  savagely  until  the  others  interrupted 
him  by  the  reading  of  the  third  article.  Here  not  content  with 
simply  bawling,  he  rushed  down  from  his  desk  and  threw  his 
body  into  so  many  contortions,  that  his  colleagues  had  a. good 
deal  of  difficulty,  and  only  by  laying  hands  on  him,  to  keep  him 
quiet.  When  he  had  come  a  little  to  himself,  he  said,  that  our 
insupportable  craftiness  was  apparent  in  this,  that  the  whole 
paper  was  crammed  full  of  our  objections.  We  replied  that  we 
had  rather  studied  simplicity,  when  before  the  assembly  we  had 
simply  and  openly  made  exceptions  to  things  which  seemed  ob- 
jectionable. 

Now  only  mark  the  impudence  of  the  man.  He  did  not  re- 
collect that  articles  had  ever  been  drawn  up  by  us.  As  we  had 
no  witnesses  to  refute  such  evident  falsehood,  we  said  that  we 
appealed  to  the  judgment  of  the  church,  that  we  were  prepared 
to  submit  to  any  degree  of  infamy,  if  all  these  articles  were  not 
recognized  by  the  totality  of  the  assembly,  according  to  which 
Bucer  had  pleaded  our  cause,  and  according  to  which  he  pro- 
nounced the  final  sentence  of  the  brethren,  which  was  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  things  demanded  by  us,  and  that  you  your- 
selves may  be  more  certain  about  that  point,  we  send  you  those 
articles  faithfully  copied  out.  As  he  wished  to  convict  us  of 
falsehood,  how,  said  he,  can  you  reconcile  it  with  this  sentence 
of  the  brethren  that  you  wish  your  rites  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
testimony  of  our  deputation,  rites  which  all  the  brethren  at 
Zurich  disapproved  of?  You  see,  my  very  worthy  brethren,  we 
had  to  do  with  one  who  deserves  not  the  title  of  a  man,  much 
less  that  of  a  servant  of  Christ,  in  such  a  manner  did  he  exhibit 
himself  in  so  arduous  a  business.  When  we  plied  him  with 
arguments  too  cogent  to  be  eluded,  I  know,  said  he,  far  too 
well  your  fickleness  and  inconstancy,  for  you  declared  in  the  con- 
ference, that  you  had  been  prepared  to  yield  to  us  at  Lausanne 
with  regard  to  two  articles,  that  you  had  resisted  concerning  the 


1538.]  BULLINGBR.  395 

third  only,  yet  when  there  you  were  unwilling  to  make  the 
slightest  concession,  more  than  beyond  giving  us  a  hearing. 
What  then,  we  replied,  do  you  not  remember,  that  everything 
was  transacted  between  us  with  the  greatest  harmony,  and  that 
the  only  difficulty  that  embarrassed  us  was  a  controversy  about 
festival  days?  When  he  kept  bawling  that  all  that  was  false, 
we  appealed  to  Erasmus  who  had  been  present  at  the  conference. 
He  indeed  admitted  that  our  statement  was  correct;  but  not- 
withstanding all  this,  Conzen  could  not  yet  be  checked  from 
proceeding  with  greater  audacity.  The  deputy  who  had  presided 
in  the  synod  gave  a  most  irrefragable  testimony  in  our  favour, 
and  added,  that  he  would  not  hesitate,  if  we  wished  it,  to  protest 
against  the  falsehoods  of  that  man,  even  before  the  consistories. 
He  nevertheless  with  unabashed  front  persisted  in  his  denials  to 
the  last.  We  then  left  the  council  house  without  entertaining 
any  further  hopes.  When  we  had  got  into  the  street,  Sebastian 
asked  if  we  thought  that  true  which  was  related  by  certain  per- 
sons ;  namely,  that  there  was  so  much  of  rigid  feeling  in  certain 
of  the  brethren  that  they  called  wolves  and  false  prophets,  the 
men  who  had  crept  into  our  places ;  we  answered  that  we  our- 
selves entertained  precisely  the  same  opinion  of  them.  Then, 
said  he,  by  a  parity  of  reason,  wc  shall  be  condemned  who  are 
settled  here  after  the  banishment  of  Megander.  We  denied  that 
the  cause  was  identical.'  And  we  gave  reasons  for  not  thinking 
more  favourably  of  these  wolves.  Learn  from  this  what  a  pre- 
text he  seized  upon  for  disengaging  himself  from  us,  for  the 
moment  he  heard  that  remark,  he  renounced  the  whole  manage- 
ment of  our  cause,  though  previously  he  had  solemnly  promised 
that  there  w^as  nothing  he  would  not  do  for  us.  Erasmus  alone 
now  remained  to  us,  who  promised,  however,  that  he  would  faith- 
fully bestow  all  his  labour  on  our  business.  But  he  can  be  of 
very  little  service  to  us  while  he  is  opposed  by  the  others.     A 

'  Mr.  Henry  has  appended  the  following  note  in  German  to  the  Latin  text :  Diese 
Stelle  scheint  Kirchhofer  nicht  richtig  zu  nehmcn,  Farel's  Leben,  i.  248:  "  Auch  er 
halte  sio  dafur,  wie  diejenigen,  die  nach  Vertreibung  Meganders  in  Bern  blieben." 
Sie  antworten  iin  gegentbeil :  "Negaviiuu.i."  (Kirchhofer  appears  not  to  have  rightly 
understood  this  passage,  Farel's  Life,  i.  248  :  "  He  also  held  them  for  such,  as  he  did 
those,  who  after  the  banishment  of  Megander  remained  in  Berne."  They  answer  on 
the  contrary;  "  Negavimus,"  we  deny.) 


396  BULLINGER.  [1538. 

few  days  after  we  were  admitted  into  the  senate  house  and 
called  back  three  times  in  the  course  of  one  hour,  in  order  that 
we  might  recede  from  our  articles — for  we  wished  that  by  a 
legitimate  order,  conformity  sl^ould  be  adopted  in  the  church. 

The  senate  wished  that  we  should  abide  by  that  which  was 
already  in  some  sort  adopted.  But  this  conformity  had  been 
adopted  by  a  few  seditious  persons  in  consequence  of  the  same 
decree  by  which  it  behoved  us  to  be  flung  into  the  Rhone.  We 
preferred,  however,  at  last  to  stoop  to  any  conditions  rather  than 
occasion  good  men  to  believe  that  it  was  through  our  fault  that 
nothing  had  been  effected.  A  decree  of  the  senate  was  passed 
that  two  deputies  should  accompany  us  to  the  fourth  milestone 
from  Geneva,  that  then  they  should  go  before  us  into  the  city 
to  prepare  the  way  for  our  return ;  that  if  they  succeeded  in  their 
mission  they  would  conduct  us  into  the  town  and  procure  our  resti- 
tution to  the  ministry.  Because  this  proposal  did  not  give  us 
great  satisfaction,  we  again  asked  an  audience  of  the  senate. 
When  this  was  granted,  we  showed  them  that  out  of  their 
measure  would  arise  what  we  chiefly  dreaded ;  namely,  that  we 
should  seem  to  be  restored  by  having  implored  pardon  for  our 
fault;  we  also  complained  that  none  of  the  ministers  had  been 
adjoined  to  the  embassy.  A  new  decree  of  the  senate  was  then 
passed  that  we  should  be  conducted  straight  back  into  the  city 
by  the  deputation,  and  first  of  all  an  opportunity  of  pleading  our 
cause  should  be  obtained  for  us,  that  at  length  we  might  be  duly 
reinstated  in  our  pastoral  functions,  if  it  should  be  made  clear 
that  we  could  be  charged  with  no  delinquency.  In  addition  to 
the  others,  Erasmus  and  Viret  were  given  to  us.  We  were  now 
about  a  mile's  distance  from  Geneva,  when  a  messenger  met  us 
;who  forbade  our  entrance.  Though  that  was  contrary  to  justice 
and  civil  rights,  we  nevertheless  complied  with  the  advice  of  the 
deputies,  otherwise  we  should  have  gone  boldly  forward,  if  they 
had  not  rather  firmly  opposed  our  design,  and  in  that  they  had 
wisely  consulted  for  our  lives.  For  it  appeared  afterwards  that 
at  no  great  distance  from  the  gates  an  ambush  had  been  laid  for 
us,  and  at  the  gate  itself  twenty  armed  banditti  were  lying  in 
wait  for  us.  Both  the  councils  decided  that  the  examination  of 
the  affair   should  be  left  to  the  people.     Among  them  Louis 


1538.]  BULLING  ER.  397 

Amman,  one  of  the  deputies,  and  Viret,  who  spoke  in  his  own 
name  and  that  of  Erasmus,  handled  the  cause  with  so  mucli 
dignity,  tliat  the  minds  of  the  multitude  seemed  to  be  induced 
to  act  with  fairness;  until  as  the  meeting  was  breaking  up,  one 
of  the  presidents  of  the  council  began  to  read  to  them  our 
articles,  putting  on  them  as  invidious  a  construction  as  he  could, 
a  good  many  others  at  the  same  time  chiming  in  with  him.  For 
it  had  been  settled  beforehand,  that  while  he  read  they  should 
keep  raising  an  outcry  to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  populace. 
They  had  only  three  topics  to  carp  about  to  get  up  ill-will  against 
us — that  we  called  the  church  of  Geneva  ours — that  we  called 
the  Bernese  by  their  name,  without  prefixing  to  it  any  honorary 
appellation — and  that  we  made  mention  of  excommunication. 
See  only,  they  exclaimed,  how  they  dare  to  call  the  church 
theirs,  as  if  they  had  already  come  into  possession  of  it.  See 
with  what  arrogance  they  despise  the  seigneurs  themselves. 
See  how  they  are  aiming  at  a  despotism.  For  what  is  their  ex- 
communication but  despotic  domination  ? 

You  perceive  how  frivolous  and  nugatory  these  calumnies  are, 
for  they  had  long  ago  admitted  of  excommunication,  the  very 
name  of  which  they  now  shrank  from  with  such  horror.  These 
firebrands  were  nevertheless  able  to  inflame  to  madness  the 
minds  of  all.  They  decreed  that  they  would  die  sooner  than 
that  we  should  be  allowed  a  hearing  to  explain  the  reasons  of 
our  conduct.  Certain  deputies  had  brought  the  articles,  but 
with  this  injunction  that  they  should  not  lay  them  before  the 
people  before  we  should  be  present,  that  we  might  have  a  prompt 
opportunity  of  removing  any  scruple,  should  any  arise.  But 
our  friend  Konzen  had  other  designs  to  serve,  and  so  he  clan- 
destinely sent  those  articles  by  a  certain  notorious  traitor  named 
Peter  Yandel,  and  that  you  may  not  fancy  we  are  grounding 
our  assertion  on  obscure  conjectures,  we  have  in  our  hands  clear 
proofs  of  his  perfidy  in  this  matter.  For  he  and  Sebastian  were 
the  only  persons  who  had  copies  of  them — and  the  fellow  Vandel 
had  vaingloriously  prated  to  many  while  he  was  on  the  way, 
that  he  was  the  bearer  of  what  would  prove  a  deadly  poison  to 
us.  In  truth  he  could  not  dissemble  the  state  of  his  feelings 
towards  us,  for  in  a  meeting  of  the  brethren  held  at  Nyon,  we 


898  BULLINGER.  [1538. 

have  heard  that  he  spoke  thus:  "The  senate  was  deliberating 
whether  I  should  not  proceed  to  Geneva  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
storing those  banished  fellows,"  (so  he  contemptuously  styled  us,) 
"but  I  would  rather  have  abdicated  my  ministry  and  retired  from 
my  country  than  aid  those  by  whom  I  know  that  I  was  savagely 
defamed."  This  forsooth  is  the  faith  solemnly  pledged  to  you 
and  to  the  church  of  Christ,  the  power  of  violating  which  you 
supposed  had  been  taken  from  Conzen.  Now  believe  after  the 
proof  that  it  was  no  vain  terror  by  which  we  were  frightened  to 
such  a  degree  as  scarcely  to  be  induced  even  by  the  authority 
of  the  church  to  venture  upon  losing  ourselves  in  this  labyrinth. 
We  have  now  gone  through  with  our  task. 

We  now  think  we  have  fully  complied  with  your  advice  and 
that  of  all  godly  men,  though  we  have  effected  nothing  by  it, 
except  perhaps  that  the  evil  has  broken  out  with  twofold  or 
threefold  violence,  and  worse  symptoms,  than  it  did  before,  for 
though  no  sooner  were  we  expelled  than  Satan  triumphed 
wantonly,  both  there  and  all  over  France,  yet  the  presumption 
both  of  him  and  his  agents  has  been  increased  in  no  ordinary 
degree  in  consequence  of  that  repulse.  It  is  incredible  how 
licentiously  and  insolently  the  ungodly  there  revel  in  every 
species  of  vice,  how  petulantly  they  insult  the  servants  of  Christ, 
how  arrogantly  they  scoff  at  the  gospel,  how  outrageously  they 
exhale  their  fury  in  all  ways.  This  calamity  ought  to  be  the 
more  bitter  to  us,  because,  as  the  discipline,  though  very  gentle 
of  late,  forced  the  keenest  adversaries  of  our  religion  to  give 
glory  to  God,  so  that  mad  license  given  to  the  perpetration 
of  all  sins,  in  consequence  of  the  celebrity  of  the  place,  will 
be  but  too  much  remarked  to  the  greater  scorn  of  the  gospel. 
Woe  to  him  by  whom  such  scandal  has  been  raised — or  rather 
woe  to  those  who  have  conspired  together  for  this  accursed  pur- 
pose. A  good  many,  though  they  desired  that  we  should  retain 
our  functions,  yet  as  they  could  not  obtain  what  they  coveted, 
unless  the  light  of  truth  were  extinguished,  did  not  hesitate  to 
gratify  their  perverse  lusts  even  at  that  price.  Conzen,  as  he 
could  not  subvert  us  without  the  ruin  of  the  church,  did  not 
hesitate  to  betray  it  along  with  us,  and  he  fancies  he  has  pulled 
down  what  we  had  built  up;  but  we  stand  unshaken  in  the  Lord, 


1538.]  BULLINGER.  899 

nnd  we  shall  stand  yet  more  firmly  when  he  with  the  Avhole  race 
of  the  ungodly  shall  perish ;  at  present  it  would  be  better  that 
the  church  should  be  entirely  destitute  of  pastors  than  that  it 
sliould  be  invaded  by  such  traitors  skulking  under  the  mask  of 
pastors.  For  there  are  two  who  have  usurped  our  place,  of 
whom  one  was  a  Franciscan  monk  about  the  beginning  of  the 
reform,  and  one  of  its  bitterest  enemies,  until  at  last  he  contem- 
plated Christ  under  the  form  of  a  woman,  whom  as  soon  as  he 
had  persuaded  to  live  with  him  he  corrupted  by  every  means 
of  seduction.  Even  while  he  continued  a  monk  he  led  the  most  cor- 
rupted and  debauched  life,  not  only  not  observing  the  superstitious 
rules  of  his  order,  but  not  even  making  a  show  of  observing  them. 
Thus  then,  lest  it  should  be  thought  that  he  is  one  to  be  justly 
driven  from  the  order  of  bishops,  he  often  cries  out  of  the  pulpit 
that  a  bishop  is  not  required  by  St.  Paul  to  be  a  man  that  has 
been  blameless,  but  who  begins  to  be  so,  as  soon  as  he  has  been 
raised  to  that  dignity.  From  the  time  in  which  he  has  pro- 
fessed to  follow  the  gospel,  he  has  so  conducted  himself  as 
to  make  it  evident  to  all  that  his  heart  is  utterly  void  of 
the  fear  of  God,  and  consequently  of  all  religion.  The  other, 
though  exceedingly  cunning  in  concealing  his  vices,  is  neverthe- 
less so  remarkably  and  notoriously  vicious  that  he  imposes  only 
on  strangers.  Both  moreover  are  grossly  ignorant  and  intolerably 
silly,  not  only  unable  to  speak,  but  even  to  prate  to  any  purpose, 
and  yet  they  are  puffed  up  with  the  most  insolent  pride.  They 
have  now  connected  themselves  with  a  third,  taxed  not  long  ago 
with  habitual  fornication,  and  on  the  point  of  being  convicted 
had  he  not  escaped  a  condemnation  by  the  favour  of  a  few.  Nor 
do  they  display  more  address  in  the  discharge  of  their  functions, 
than  they  did  in  usurping  them ;  for  they  have  interfered  with 
the  ministers  of  the  whole  district,  partly  against  the  wishes  of 
some  and  partly  against  the  protestations  of  others,  though  in 
that  they  make  evident  rather  their  quality  of  hirelings  than  of 
servants  of  Christ.  But  nothing  grieves  us  more  than  that  by 
their  ignorance,  their  levity,  and  their  stupidity,  the  ministry  is 
prostituted  and  brought  into  contempt.  Not  a  day  passes  in 
which  some  blunder  of  theirs  is  not  plainly  remarked  either  by 


400  ZEBEDEE.  [1539. 

men  or  women,  sometimes  even  by  children.     But  my  letter  is 
plucked  from  my  hands  by  the  hurry  of  the  messenger. 

Farewell  then,  well  beloved  and  most  honoured  brethren, 
and  with  serious  prayers  call  upon  the  Lord  that  he  may  speedily 
arise. — Your  aflfectionate  brethren, 

Farel  and  Calvin. 

These  words  in  the  writing  of  Calvin. 

We  beseech  you,  brethren,  beware  lest  the  publicity  given  to 
this  letter  should  bring  us  into  trouble.  For  we  confide  matters 
more  unreservedly  to  your  bosom  than  we  should  relate  them 
to  men  in  general.  Remember  then  that  these  things  are  en- 
trusted confidentially  to  your  good  faith. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Arch.  Eccl.  of  Berne.] 


IV. — To  Zebedee.' 

Pressing  invitations  to  concord — Apology  for  Bueer— Judgment  respecting  Zwingli, 
Luther,  Carlostadt — Necessity  of  union. 

Steasboueg,  IQth  May,  1539. 

Your  letter  gave  me  uneasiness  for  other  reasons,  but  greatly 
agitated  my  mind,  because  I  see  that  you  still  entertain  so  great 
an  aversion  to  the  agreement  which  I  imagined  had  been  duly 
established  in  your  parts.  As  you  do  not  seem,  however,  to 
have  taken  up  your  views  of  the  subject  without  some  reasons,  I 
shall  first  endeavour  to  satisfy  you  as  well  as  I  can  respecting 
the  things  which  you  object  to,  then  I  shall  slightly  touch  on 
the  cause  itself.  You  say  that  those  men  whose  talents  and 
hearts  I  so  highly  commend,  have  diminished  their  own  authority 
among  most  persons  whom  you  know,  both  men  of  small  and  of 
great  importance.  I  confess  it  indeed.  But  whose  fault  is  it  ? 
"I  wish  it  were  not  their  own,"  you  say. 

'  John  Calvin  to  Zcbedee,  foithful  minister  of  the  Church  of  Orbe.  Andre  Zehedee, 
minister  of  the  Church  of  Orbe,  "a  red-haired  and  very  haughty  man,"  says  an 
aJicient  chronicle  of  this  town,  after  having  long  kept  up  a  friendly  intercourse  with 
Calvin  became  at  a  later  period  one  of  his  most  violent  adversaries.     See  vol. 


1539.]  ZEBEDEE.  401 

Take  care,  lest  you  do  injustice  to  the  servants  of  Christ, 
uhom  you  suspect  so  maliciously  when  they  themselves  have  given 
you  no  grounds  for  doing  so.  Bucer  conducted  himself  in  such  a 
manner  in  the  affair  of  the  agreement,  that  while  many  exclaim 
that  his  actions  displease  them,  no  one  can  point  out  the  slightest 
point  in  which  he  did  wrong.  I  know  what  complaints  are 
everywhere  heard  about  him  among  those  who  cry  out  against 
the  agreement.  But  if  you  examine  a  little  more  closely,  it  will 
be  clear  to  you  that  they  are  mere  invectives.  If  we  condemn, 
with  so  much  facility,  a  man  endowed  with  so  many  excellent 
gifts,  and  whose  services  the  Lord  has  made  use  of  for  such  ex- 
cellent things,  what,  pray,  shall  we  say  of  those  who  have 
hitherto  approved  themselves  by  no  notable  action?  But  should 
you  persist  in  flattering  yourself  by  depreciating  men  who  do 
not  deserve  it,  you  shall  never,  for  all  that,  persuade  me  not  to 
feel  and  declare  those  to  be  sincere  men  whose  sincerity  I  see 
with  my  eyes.  It  is  to  no  purpose  you  recur  to  that  common- 
place remark,  we  should  not  from  admiration  of  men  let  our- 
selves be  led  away  from  the  certain  truth  of  religion.  For  I 
am  not  enslaved  by  so  preposterous  and  blind  an  admiration  of 
any  man,  as  to  be  detached  by  it  from  a  sound  judgment,  much 
less  from  the  authority  of  the  faith;  and  I  know  that  Farel  has 
too  much  firmness  to  leave  me  any  room  for  fearing  that  he 
could  in  this  manner  be  turned  aside  from  the  word  of  God. 
But  as  I  know  that  all  who  stand  up  for  the  opinions  of  Luther 
are  suspected  of  too  much  wiliness  by  the  men  of  our  party,  I 
was  unwilling  to  allow  Farel  to  be  tormented  by  a  needless  mis- 
trust. But  to  what  purpose  dread  the  astuteness  of  that  man 
of  whose  candour  you  can  be  assured?  I  shall  not  cease  then 
loudly  to  proclaim  that  virtue  which  I  think  I  perceive  in  Me- 
lanchthon.  Meanwhile  there  are  certain  things  in  which  I  my- 
self confess  him  to  be  deficient,  so  far  am  I  from  wishing  to 
subject  any  one  to  his  opinions.  For  this  is  my  purpose,  that 
banishing  all  suspicions  which  are  an  obstacle  to  us,  we  should 
confidingly  on  the  one  side  and  the  other  listen  to  each  other's 
reasons,  reserving  for  our  own  judgment  the  question  itself  intact 
till  the  truth  be  discovered.  I  know  that  there  is  an  immense 
fear  of  the  Gorgon  as  far  as  Bucer  is  concerned.  But  it  vexes 
51 


402  ZEBEDEB.  [1539. 

you,  that  lie  has  overthrown  a  doctrine,  which  lately  (1537,  Sept.), 
was  so  well  established  there,  and  you  think  it  to  be  the  more 
dishonourable,  that  he  himself  should  bring  into  doubt  a  doctrine, 
which  formerly  he  defended  with  the  greatest  firmness  against 
most  obstinate  opponents.  What  kind  of  a  truth  it  is  we  are 
wavering  in,  I  do  not  perceive ;  but  I  venture  to  say,  that  we 
perfectly  and  firmly  agree  with  Bucer,  so  that  no  part  of  sound 
doctrine  is  abandoned  by  us.  What  is  there  repugnant  to 
the  plain  meaning  of  the  Scripture  in  the  formula  I  drew  up 
some  time  ago?  What  is  there  in  my  articles,  which  could  in 
any  way  give  youofience?  Nevertheless  nothing  prevents  an 
agreement,  but  that  those  men,  who  wish  to  appear  very  con- 
servative, entirely  reject  this  doctrine.  If  we  think  that  Martin 
dissembles,  why  do  we  not  thoroughly  draw  him  out  ?  Let  us 
simply  assent  to  the  teaching  of  the  Scripture,  and  we  shall 
either  win  him  over,  with  or  against  his  will,  to  the  light ;  or  he 
certainly  will  not  be  able  to  use  evasion,  but  will  disclose  what- 
ever poison  may  be  in  his  heart.  But  since  we  have  not  fully 
found  out  his  opinion,  we  even  shrink  from  confessing  the  truth, 
lest  we  may  seem  to  assent  to  his  views.  What  harm  could  re- 
sult from  drawing  up  a  clear  confession  of  the  participation  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  which  is  the  privilege  of  the 
faithful  in  the  holy  supper  ?  Surely  Martin  would  be  compelled 
to  accept  it,  or  we  would  justly  bid  him  farewell.  You  have  no 
cause  to  take  so  great  ofience  at  the  retractations  of  Bucer.  Since 
his  teaching  concerning  the  use  of  the  sacraments  was  erroneous, 
he  justly  retracted  it.  I  would  that  Zwingli  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  do  the  same.  For  his  opinion  on  this  subject  was  both 
wrong  and  pernicious.  When  I  saw  that  our  friends  eagerly  ac- 
»  cepted  it  with  great  applause,  I  did  not  hesitate  to  oppose  it,  while 
I  was  still  working  in  France.  I  confess,  he  (Bucer)  commits  \ 
a  mistake  by  endeavouring  to  soften  the  sentiments  of  CEco- J 
lampadius  and  Zwingli,  because  he  makes  them  almost  agree/ 
with  Luther.  But  those  men,  who  most  spitefully  censure  hini 
in  every  other  respect,  do  not  blame  him  for  this.  For  they 
have  nothing  more  at  heart,  but  that  Zwingli  should  remain  un- 
touched.    But  I  wish,  that  they  would  cease  to  defend  him  so 


1539.]  ZEBEDEE.  403 

urgently,  and  would  with  singleness  of  mind  give  glory  to  God 
by  a  bare  confession  of  the  truth.  I  am  very  far  from  conceding 
to  you  that  there  was  no  rigidity  in  the  doctrine  of  Zwingli. 
Indeed  one  can  see  at  a  glance  that,  too  much  absorbed  with 
overturning  the  superstition  of  a  carnal  presence,  he  at  the 
same  time  set  aside  the  true  efficacy  of  our  participation, 
or  at  least  threw  an  obscurity  over  it.  So  that  what  we 
required  was  that  greater  light  should  have  been  thrown  on 
that  point.  You  have  reason  to  be  offended  that  Luther  re- 
tracts nothing,  palliates  nothing,  but  stubbornly  maintains  all 
his  opinions. 

But  what  could  Bucer  do  ?  He  might  have  waited,  you  will 
say.  But  it  was  better  by  his  example  to  incite  Luther  and 
•  others  to  their  duty.  To  what  end  that  holy  obtestation  ?  For 
after  he  had  retracted  his  own  errors,  he  also  adjures  them  in 
God's  name  to  correct  in  their  turn  whatever  mistakes  they 
have  committed.  What  Luther's  book  against  the  Arians  con- 
tains, I  know  not,  except  that  from  the  title  I  guess  the  main 
points  of  the  subject.  If  in  handling  it  he  has  given  Carlostadt 
a  good  drubbing,  it  is  not  without  reason.  Wherefore  they 
cannot  feel  wroth  with  him,  except  that  it  is  matter  of  sorrow 
that  by  the  unnecessary  ripping  up  of  old  quarrels,  minds  should 
be  exasperated.  It  is  more  certain  than  certainty  itself,  that 
the  Church  of  Wittemberg  has  been  pestered  with  that  foolish 
dogma  by  Carlostadt.  We  have  not  Bucer's  Latin  book.  If 
such  are  their  acts  of  conciliation  it  is  with  reason  they  displease 
you,  and  I  should  not  consider  them  in  a  more  favourable  light 
if  I  saw  them.  But  it  does  not  follow  that  every  difference  of 
opinion  should  immediately  break  out  into  an  open  rupture. 
Wherefore,  though  your  conscience  compel  you  to  oppose  in  some 
respects  his  opinion,  it  is  your  duty  to  do  your  endeavour  that 
the  fraternal  union  between  you  and  him  be  maintained.  For 
it  behoves  us  not  rashly  to  break  up  our  connection  with  those 
whom  the  Lord  has  joined  with  us  in  the  fellowship  of  his 
work.  And  this  alone  I  ask  of  you,  that  jou  constantly  retain 
that  faith  in  which  you  have  hitherto  stood,  but  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  that  you  may  not  appear  of  your  own  free  will  to  seek 


404  ZEBEDEE.  [1539. 

for  a  rupture  with  those  to  whom  you  cannot  refuse  the  right 
of  being  esteemed  both  by  you  and  all  pious  men  as  among  the 
leading  servants  of  Christ.  Good  God,  to  what  a  point  have  we 
come.  We  ought  to  consider  a  separation  from  the  ministers  of 
Christ,  with  the  same  disposition  as  if  our  own  bowels  were  torn 
out.  Now  it  is  almost  a  sort  of  sport  not  only  to  cut  off  certain 
members,  but  to  retrench  the  most  vital  parts  from  their  con- 
nection with  us.  These  things,  as  I  have  thrown  them  together 
at  random  and  without  any  arrangement,  you  will  reflect  on, 
and  endure  patiently  the  just  liberty  I  have  taken.  Moreover 
you  have  no  occasion  to  be  under  any  apprehensions  from  me. 
The  things  you  have  written  I  will  keep  by  me  as  religiously  as 
I  should  wish  them  to  be  kept,  if  it  were  my  own  life  that  was 
at  stake. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Arch.  Ecd.  of  Berne.], 


1546.]  viRET.  405 


v.— To   ViRET. 

Tragical  death  of  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Libertine  party  at  Geneva — Discourse  pro- 
nounced by  Calvin  on  this  occasion. 

Geneva,  lith  November,  1546. 

I  thought  I  had  sent  word  to  some  one  or  other  to  give  you 
an  oral  account  of  the  story  which  you  now  require  me  to  write 
to  you  about.  Well  then,  as  you  wish  to  know  the  matter  more 
thoroughly,  here  it  is  in  a  few  words.  When  our  brother  Ray- 
mond said  he  had  heard  something  about  the  horrid  end  of  an 
impious  man,  the  matter  seemed  to  deserve  to  be  investigated  by 
the  magistrate.  By  the  orders  of  my  brethren  then  I  presented 
myself  before  the  senate.  I  showed  them  that  it  was  of  much 
importance  that  some  inquiry  should  be  set  on  foot,  while  it  was 
yet  possible  to  have  the  matter  thoroughly  sifted,  for  it  was  im- 
possible that  the  rumour  should  not  be  speedily  and  widely 
spread ;  so  that,  if  it  were  a  fable,  it  should  be  confuted  by  public 
authority,  but  if  what  was  reported  should  be  found  true,  that 
such  a  judgment  of  God  ought  not  to  be  buried  in  oblivion;  that 
I  had  already  seen  very  many  who  passed  it  off  as  a  joke.  But 
I  reminded  them  that  there  never  had  existed  any  miracle,  even 
the  most  evident,  over  which  Satan  did  not  attempt  to  cast  a 
mist ;  that  not  even  when  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram  had  been 
swallowed  up,  had  the  hand  of  God  been  recognized.  I  made  a 
tolerably  long  speech.  It  was  decreed  that  for  the  present 
matter '  .  .  .  The  four  Syndics  were  present  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  council,  the  burgomaster  also  with  his  suite.  My 
colleagues  too  assisted.  There  was  a  small  cottage  in  a  field 
where  his  wife  and  four  children  had  died  of  the  plague.  lie  had 
been,  all  his  life,  a  criminal  and  profligate  man,  a  haunter  of 
taverns,  a  drunkard,  a  brawler,  much  addicted  to  profane  swear- 
ing, in  a  word,  one  of  the  most  notorious  despisers  of  God. 
When  his  neighbours  reproved  him  because  he  went  so  seldom  to 
church,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  saying,  as  we  heard,  "  What  ? 

'  Something  is  here  a  wanting  in  the  manuscript. 


406  viRET.  [1546. 

Have  I  hired  myself  to  Calvin  that  I  should  go  to  hear  hira 
talk?"  Admonished  by  Ferron  respecting  his  disgraceful  life, 
he  showed  no  signs  of  repentance. 

A  short  time  before   he  fell   ill,  Raymond  sharply  rebnko^l 
him,  as  was  his  duty,  for  having  shamefully  abandoned  his  wife. 
He  wickedly  took  occasion,  from  the  contagious  nature  of  the 
disease,  to  indulge  in  slanderous  remarks.     After  having  lost  his 
children,  he  was  himself  attacked  by  the  malady,  and  was  now  so 
completely  debilitated  that  he  could  scarcely  lift  his  hand,  when 
he  was  suddenly  seized  one  night  with  an   inflammation  of  the 
brain.     He  sprang  out  of  bed.     His  mother   and   his  wife,  who 
•were  watching  by  his  bed-side,  retained  him.     He  chattered  of 
nothing  but  devils,  that  he  was  a  man  past   all  hope,   that  he 
was  a  prey  due  to  the  devil.     When  he  was  admonished  to  pray 
to  God,  he  replied  that  this  would  be  of  no  service  to  him,  be- 
cause he  was  already  awarded  to  the  devils,  that  he  cared  no 
more  for  God  than  for  the  sole  of  a  torn  shoe.     These  were  his 
very  words,  as  his  mother  and  the  maid  servant  testified.     After 
sun  rise  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  while  he  was  repos- 
ing in  bed,  his  mother  was  seated  near  the  door.     He  rushed  out, 
passing  over  her  head  like  a  whirlwind.     Both  the  women  strove 
to  retain  him,  but  he  flew  off  to  a  great  distance  with  so  violent 
an  impetus,  that  he  appeared  to  be  carried  oS",  not  to  run  of  his 
own  accord.     There  is  in  that  part  of  the  field  through  which 
he  rushed  a  very  thick  quick-set  hedge.     The  place  was  pointed 
out  to  us.     Even  if  the  ground  were  level  on  each  side  of  the 
hedge,  there  is  no  one,  however  vigorous  he  might  be,  who  could 
have  crossed  it  at  a  leap  without  leaving  some  traces  of  his  pas- 
sage, but  on  the  other  side  there  is  the  high  parapet  of  a  haha. 
At  the  bottom  of  this  parapet  there  is  a  stony  and  rugged  path 
like  that  down  which  rush  summer  torrents.     Over  against  this 
place,  but  at  a  considerable  distance  from  it,  there  is  a  parapet 
similar  to  the  first  mentioned,  which  has  also  a  thick  and  prickly 
hedge.     When  there  was  no  possibility  of  springing  through 
this  hedge  without  tearing  all  one's  limbs,  and  on  the  opposite 
side  there  appeared  no  path  leading  upwards,  in  the  sight  of  the 
women  he  was  whisked  away  like  a  hurricane  into  a  vineyard 
beyond  that.     With  their  finger  they  pointed  out  the  place  from 


1546.]  viRET.  407 

a  distance  where  he  vanished  from  their  sight.  His  hat  was 
found  in  that  place  by  the  bank  of  the  Rhone.  Boatmen  were 
Bent  to  look  for  the  corpse ;  they  lost  their  pains,  and  from  that 
place  he  could  not  have  reached  the  Rhone  without  being  carried 
headlong  down. 

In  a  matter  so  very  evident,  there  were  nevertheless  some  of 
the  principal  persons  who  impudently  endeavoured  to  explain 
away  what  was  miraculous  in  it.  I  then  exclaimed  in  a  loud 
voice,  "  If  you  believe  that  there  arc  any  devils  at  all,  here  you 
clearly  perceive  the  agency  of  the  devil.  Those  who  have  no 
faith  in  God  deserve  to  stumble  in  darkness  in  open  day."  As 
the  Sabbath  came  round  two  days  afterwards,  by  the  advice  of 
my  brethren  I  handled  the  subject  in  my  sermon,  and  sliarply 
inveighed  against  those  who  treated  a  thing  so  convincingly 
proved  as  a  fable,  or  who  at  least  feigned  so  to  treat  it.  Nay, 
in  my  warmth  I  was  carried  so  far  as  to  assert  that  during  those 
two  days,  I  more  than  tAventy  times  Avith  ardent  wishes  invoked 
death  because  I  saw  men  of  such  hardened  effrontery  in  con- 
templating the  judgments  of  God.  For  now  the  impiety  of  our 
citizens  was  made  more  evident  than  it  ever  had  been  before. 
Only  a  few  agreed  with  us  in  words ;  I  know  not  if  even  one  be- 
lieved me  in  his  heart.  I  added  two  other  incidents  that  had 
taken  place;  not  so  striking,  but  which  were  still  worthy  of  being 
mentioned. 

An  individual  during  the  time  of  sermon  on  the  Lord's  day 
went  into  a  wine  shop  to  drink ;  by  chance  he  fell  on  his  sword 
that  had  slipped  out  of  its  scabbard  and  was  carried  out  in  a 
dying  state.  Another  in  the  month  of  September  last,  on  a  day 
in  which  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper  was  administered, 
as  he  was  secretly  attempting  while  intoxicated  to  creep  through 
a  window  to  get  to  a  strumpet,  had  his  bones  broken  in  several 
places  by  a  terrible  fall.  At  last  I  said  in  conclusion,  "Till  hell 
swallow  you  up  with  all  your  houses,  you  will  not  give  faith  to 
God  when  he  stretches  forth  his  hand."  I  perceived  that  my 
zeal  gave  no  great  pleasure  to  a  good  many,  because  they  would 
not  be  willingly  wakened  from  their  lethargy.  For  you  can 
scarcely  believe  how  torpid  the  conscience  of  many  is,  who  seem 
puffed  up  to  the  skies.     The  greater  part  of  them  fear  di>>grace 


408  viRET.  [1546. 

to  the  city;  a  few  of  them,  to  our  doctrine;  but  all  of  them  quite 
foolishly.  For  what  more  glorious  for  us  than  this  notable 
vengeance  of  God  against  the  despisers  of  our  doctrine  ?  And 
what  have  the  Papists  to  insult  the  Genevese  with,  if  God  thus 
guards  against  contempt  the  doctrine  which  they  profess?  But 
as  I  was  saying,  this  place  deserves  that  God  should  signalize  it 
more  than  others  by  remarkable  instances  of  his  judgment.  I 
have  not  said  much,  and  yet  I  have  gone  farther  than  I  wished. 

There  is  at  my  house  a  pious  and  learned  brother,  who  was 
minded  to  go  to  Strasbourg,  to  spend  there  a  couple  of  years  in 
study,  and  afterwards  come  back  here  that  he  might  give  him- 
self up  to  the  ministry.  He  has  a  brother  tolerably  rich,  who 
had  promised  to  defray  his  expenses  during  three  years.  But 
he  disappointed  him  at  last.  Thus  the  good  man,  left  destitute, 
was  looking  about  for  what  he  should  do.  Because  I  had  the 
best  testimony  respecting  him  from  all  good  men,  and  because 
he  was  personally  known  to  me,  I  have  taken  him  to  my  house, 
where  his  table  and  lodging  cost  him  nothing,  till  some  situation 
cast  up  for  him.  Not  to  be  burdensome  to  me,  he  asked  me  for 
a  recommendation  to  you,  but  I  put  him  in  mind  that  we  should 
watch  for  a  suitable  opportunity.  I  therefore  beseech  you  again 
and  again,  if  you  shall  happen  to  get  rid  of  some  of  your  teachers, 
that  you  will  let  me  know  of  it.  For  this  man  deserves  that  we 
should  interest  ourselves  in  his  behalf.  If  I  did  not  think  that 
he  would  be  a  worthy  minister  of  Christ,  I  should  not  busy  my- 
self about  him,  though,  as  it  is,  I  am  consulting  the  advantage  of 
the  church  as  well  as  that  of  the  man.  You  too  will  never  re- 
pent of  having  seconded  us.  The  brothers  of  Farel  are  here. 
In  what  concerns  himself,  may  God  perfect  what  has  been  so 
happily  begun.  With  regard  to  the  man  I  have  spoken  of,  I  am 
afraid  of  but  one  thing,  that  is,  that  he  may  be  a  little  too 
despotic,  having  once  been  set  over  children,  but  it  will  be  your 
business  to  moderate  him.  You  must  be  very  cautious  in 
choosing  a  successor  at  Neuchatel,  lest  the  brethren  should  be 
too  morose.  As  far  as  I  could  divine,  Thomas  is  not  exceed- 
ingly well  pleased  that  people's  minds  were  so  much  alienated 
from  him.     Do  you  prudently  try  to  meet  the  dangers. 

Farewell,  with    your  brethren   and  friends,  whom  you  will 


1548.]  viRET.  400 

salute  in  my  name.  Mj  colleagues  salute  you  and  tliem.  ]\[y 
wife  also.  May  the  Lord  preserve  you  and  govern  you  by  his 
Spirit.     Amen. — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Llhrar}/  of  Geneva.     Vol.  111.] 


VI.— To   ViRET.' 
Mention  of  Servetus — Marriage  of  the  minister  Merlin — Epistolary  vexations. 

l«t  September,  1548. 

I  think  you  must  have  read  by  this  time  the  answers  I  made 
to  Servetus.  At  length  I  have  resolved  not  to  contend  any 
longer  with  the  incorrigible  obstinacy  of  a  heretical  man.  And 
in  sooth  we  must  comply  with  what  Paul  mentions,  but  at  pre- 
sent he  attacks  you.  You  will  consider  how  far  you  ought  to 
insist  upon  refuting  his  ravings.  He  shall  not  henceforth  wring 
one  word  from  me.  For  our  friend  Merlin  I  should  wish  a  wife 
of  distinguished  merit,  but  when  I  look  all  about  me  I  can 
scarcely  find  one  that  I  dare  venture  to  betroth  him  to,  accord- 
ing to  my  hopes  and  wishes.  If  it  were  convenient  for  him 
under  any  other  pretext  to  undertake  a  journey  hither,  he  might 
himself  look  out  better;  he  would  then  consult  with  me  and  con- 
fide to  me  with  security  and  familiarity  his  ideas  on  that  subject. 
Perhaps  we  might  thus  hit  on  some  expedient.  This  seems  to 
me  the  best  method  of  proceeding. 

The  day  before  your  letter  to  Martyr  was  delivered  me, 
Dumoulin  had  left  this  town.  A  messenger  to  convey  it  back 
did  not  immediately  present  himself.  If  the  seal  is  broken  up, 
it  is  from  inattention,  for  when  I  was  tumbling  over  a  mass  of 
letters  confusedly  heaped  up  on  my  table  at  the  time  I  was 
about  to  write  an  answer  to  you,  fancying  this  to  be  one  of  those 
that  were  written  to  me  I  opened  it.     I  had  not  perused  a  line 

Independently  of  the  painful  interest  which  is  attached  to  the  name  of  Servetus, 
this  letter  shows  what  minute  precautions  Calvin  and  Viret  were  obliged  to  take  in 
carrying  on  their  familiar  correspondence,  of  which  the  effusions  were  incessantly 
maliciously  interpreted  both  at  Berne  and  Geneva.     See  vol.  ii.  p.  176. 

52 


410  viRET.  [1548. 

of  it  before  I  perceived  my  mistake.  This  at  least  I  have  gained 
by  my  heedlessness,  I  perceived  that  I  have  been  more  indulgent 
in  bearing  testimony. 

The  flying  rumours  that  are  spread  about  respecting  our  letters 
among  the  evil  disposed  savour  of  their  old  worn  out  malice,  so 
that  it  seems  that  those  who  would  like  to  do  a  great  deal  of 
mischief,  either  do  not  dare,  or  as  yet,  are  but  ill- prepared  for 
the  onset.  Relying  on  a  good  conscience  I  fear  no  attack. 
For  what  worse  than  death  can  they  threaten?  And  yet  if  the 
minds  of  the  Bernese  shall  at  length  be  somewhat  mitigated 
towards  you,  as  Christopher  gave  me  some  reason  to  hope,  you 
will  perhaps  be  able  to  draw  something  from  them,  as  it  were 
by  chance.  What  if  either  of  us  should  attempt  it  through 
Zerkint  ?  Reflect  if  that  will  not  be  more  expedient.  Respect- 
ing Guillaume's  business,  Allen  and  St.  Privat  will  bring  back 
word  what  has  been  resolved.  Both  willingly  offer  their  services, 
and  yet  should  the  aflair  get  wind  I  shall  scarcely  be  able  to 
persuade  them  to  do  so  at  this  time.  You  will  assist  Allen  with 
your  recommendation,  if  by  chance  he  should  judge  it  necessary 
to  go  to  Berne.  I  have  collected  into  a  parcel  all  the  letters 
I  have  had  from  you,  that  you  yourself  in  reading  them  over 
may  signalize  by  a  certain  mark  whatever  things  in  them  may 
seem  to  you  to  expose  you  to  danger.  Those  which  shall  be  so 
marked,  keep  by  you  in  a  place  of  safety.  I  will  do  the  same 
thing  by  my  own  the  moment  I  receive  them  from  you. 

Farewell,  most  worthy  brother  and  friend.  May  the  Lord 
preserve  you,  and  ever  accompany  you  with  his  grace.  Amen. 
Carefully  salute  your  wife  and  your  colleague  in  my  name. 
My  wife  also  salutes  you  all,  and  commends  herself  to  your 
prayers. 

[Lat.  Orig. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  Ill  a.] 


1548.]  BRENTZ.  411 


VII.— To  Brentz.' 

Message  of  consolation  and  fraternal  sympathy. 

Geneva,  5th  November,  1548. 

If  anything  could  afford  me  pleasure  in  these  unhappy  times, 
your  very  affectionate  and  interesting  letter  would  certainly  have 
done  so.  Most  grateful  indeed  it  was,  and  furnished  me  with 
much  consolation  under  my  various  sorrows,  since  it  let  me  know 
that  you,  about  whose  life  all  good  men  had  been  so  long  in 
anxious  suspense,  had  been  rescued,  as  it  were,  from  the  jaws 
of  death.  And  though  in  the  present  posture  of  affairs,  life 
cannot  but  seem  bitter  to  you,  when  you  reflect  that  you  have 
been  torn  from  the  church  which  you  had  begotten  in  Christ, 
and  trained  up  with  such  anxious  care,  and  which  now  deprived 
of  its  pastor,  you  perceive  to  be  in  a  manner  exposed  to  the 
unbridled  caprice  of  Satan ;  nevertheless,  you  should  bear  in 
mind  at  the  same  time,  that  it  is  not  without  some  special  design, 
that  your  life  has  been  preserved  by  the  Lord.  Though  you 
still  enjoy  a  green  old  age,  you  would  have  gone  down  to  the 
tomb  full  of  years.  And  in  truth  what  is  there  in  this  world  at 
present  which  should  render  us  very  solicitous  about  living  ?  I 
am  convinced  then  that  God,  who  has  hitherto  so  happily  made 
use  of  your  ministry  for  the  edification  of  his  church,  and 
crowned  it  with  such  abundant  fruits,  has  yet  in  reserve  for  you 
some  work  to  us  unknown,  in  which  he  wills  still  further  to  ex- 
ercise you.     Not  that  wc  have  any  prospect,  at  least,  any  im- 

'  Compelled  to  exile  himself  from  AVurtemburg,  after  the  proclamation  of  the  In- 
terim, Brentz,  who  had  taken  so  great  a  part  in  the  reformation  of  this  country,  had 
withdrawn  to  Bale,  where  he  waited  for  better  days.  In  a  letter  to  Calvin,  of  the 
6th  October,  1548,  he  expressed  his  regrets  and  sorrow:  "And  though  I  have  found 
here  all  sorts  of  advantages — hospitality,  a  charming  city,  the  friendly  feelings  of 
the  inhabitants,  intercourse  with  learned  men,  and,  what  delights  me  most  of  all,  the 
courteous  kindness  of  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel ;  yet  when  I  call  to  mind  the  deso- 
late state  of  the  church,  the  abandonment  of  my  own  family,  and  the  dangers  which 
seem  impending  over  other  churches  and  their  ministers,  you  yourself  can  easily 
imagine  that  no  charm  in  external  things  is  so  great  as  to  afford  me  pleasure  in  such 
a  conjuncture." 


412  BRENTZ.  [1548. 

mediate  one  of  a  better  state  of  things.  On  the  contrary, 
wherever  we  turn  our  eyes,  the  symptoms  of  fresh  evils  manifest 
themselves  so  clearly,  that  the  final  ruin  of  the  church  seems 
inevitable.  And  then,  as  our  own  impiety  and  ingratitude 
have  been  the  primary  causes  of  these  evils,  so  our  contumacy 
carries  us  headlong  to  such  a  degree,  that  more  numerous  and 
more  terrible  misfortunes  than  any  we  have  hitherto  experienced, 
are  justly  to  be  apprehended.  One  thought  there  is,  however, 
which  enables  me  to  bear  up,  and  revives  my  courage;  it  is 
when  I  reflect  in  my  own  mind  that  God  would  never  have  per- 
mitted this  marvellous  restoration  of  the  church  to  proceed  so 
far,  merely  to  have  inspired  a  fallacious  hope,  destined  to  vanish 
immediately  away;  but  that  he  has  undertaken  a  work,  which 
not  only  in  spite  of  Satan,  but  also  notwithstanding  all  the 
malicious  opposition  of  men,  he  will  defend  and  establish. 
•  Meanwhile  let  us  patiently  endure  the  purgation  of  which  we 
stand  in  need.  Should  the  fury  of  the  lion  once  be  fairly  let 
loose  on  us,  we  shall  be  far  more  cruelly  handled.  Assuredly 
up  to  the  present  time  he  has  rather  terrified  us  with  threats, 
than  ferociously  assailed  us.  But  he  will  give  way  to  the  rage 
which  he  has  as  yet  curbed  as  soon  as  he  shall  see  all  the 
obstacles  to  his  designs  removed.  It  is  for  that  reason  we 
should  be  as  fully  prepared  as  if  the  unsheathed  sword  were 
already  over  our  necks,  and  the  fires  lighted  to  consume  us. 
But,  as  I  said,  I  feel  convinced  that  some  limits  will  be  set  to 
our  chastisement,  and  God  will  speedily  re-assemble  his  church, 
after  this  most  wretched  dispersion.  One  thing  I  fear  is,  that 
he  will  severely  avenge  the  disgraceful  supineness  of  Germany, 
as  well  as  its  impious  perfidiousness.  But  as  he  must  recognize 
that  many  poor  harmless  sheep  had  been  betrayed  by  the 
sturdier  goats,  he  will,  I  trust,  in  his  mercy,  take  into  consider- 
ation the  condition  of  the  former,  so  as  to  mitigate  his  just 
indignation.  Here  having  no  other  means  of  testifying  our 
sympathy,  we  are  unceasingly  mindful  of  you  and  such  as  you 
in  our  prayers;  would  that  we  could  aid  you  by  other  services. 
Thus,  then,  first  of  all,  with  one  accord,  we  suppliantly  entreat 
God,  if,  off"ended  by  our  transgressions,  he  has  given  loose 
reins  for  a  season  to  the  cruelty  of  the  ungodly,  that  in  turn 


1552.]  AMBROSE    BLAURER.  413 

provoked  by  the  scoffings  and  frowardness  of  these  wicked  men, 
he  would  again  look  with  compassion  on  his  own  cause  and  that 
of  his  children ;  next  we  implore  Jesus  Christ  not  only  to  be  our 
intercessor  with  the  Father,  but  also  to  show  himself  the  just 
avenger  of  his  church. 

Farewell,  most  distinguished  sir,  and  my  very  honoured 
brother  in  the  Lord.  May  the  Lord  whom  you  serve  con- 
tinue to  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  bless  all  your  holy 
labours. 

[  Calvin's  Lat.  Corresp.     Opera,  ix.  p.  47.] 


VIII. — To  Ambrose  Blaurer.' 

Sends  him  divers   works — News  of  Italy — Belgium   and  France — Disturbances  in 
Germany — Chastisement  of  Constance. 

Geneva,  lith  February,  1552.     (5  o'clock  P.  M.) 

If  I  have  delayed  rather  too  long  in  answering  your  letter, 
my  most  worthy  and  much  respected  brother,  it  is  the  fault  of 
Michael  Muller,  who  every  day  on  the  point  of  setting  out  has 
kept  me  in  suspense  for  upwards  of  a  month  and  a  half. 

Yesterday,  as  I  was  proceeding  to  church  to  deliver  a  lecture, 
a  boy  put  your  letter  into  my  hands.  Three  hours  afterwards 
about  supper  time,  I  called  at  the  inn,  but  the  courier  was  not 
there.  About  midnight  I  was  seized  with  a  violent  megrim,  a 
complaint  to  which  I  am  but  too  subject.  To-day  after  sermon 
till  midday  I  kept  my  bed.  After  that  I  had  to  lecture,  and 
now  having  come  back,  I  shall  write  to  you  very  briefly,  for  I 

'  "A  most  excellent  servant  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  faithful  pastor  of  the  church 
of  Bienne,  my  very  dear  friend,  and  honoured  fellow  minister." 

Banished  from  Constance,  his  native  town,  where  the  Catholic  worship  had  been 
re-established  by  the  Imperialists,  Blaurer  had  found  an  asylum  at  Bienne.  His  bro- 
ther Thomas,  driven  into  exile  like  himself,  wrote  to  Calvin,  "  I  recommend  to  you 
my  brother  Ambrose  now  at  Bienne,  serving  the  Lord,  and  at  no  great  distance  from 
your  church."  22nd  October,  1551.  By  a  letter  written  some  time  afterwards,  3rJ 
of  December  of  the  same  year,  Ambrose  Blaurer  asked  Calvin  for  some  of  his  writings. 
This  was  the  origin  of  the  most  aflFectionat«  intercourse  between  the  proscribed  min- 
ister and  the  Reformer. 


414  AMBKOSE   BLAUKER.  [1552. 

have  but  little  time  before  me.  I  am  exhausted  by  my  illness 
and  still  feel  a  little  inclined  to  be  lazy.  The  courier  will  also 
leave  this  to-morrow,  as  I  have  been  told,  for  he  was  never  to 
be  found  at  his  inn.  So  I  could  not  saddle  him  with  my  com- 
mentary on  John  as  you  desired.  By  the  inscription  you  will 
perceive  that  I  had  already  destined  it  as  a  present  to  you.  I 
have  added  four  sermons  along  with  an  exposition  of  one  Psalm. 
For  the  four  copies  of  the  treatise  on  predestination  with  the 
answer  of  Etienne,  I  have  reminded  the  servant  that  he  is  to 
receive  only  as  much  as  he  paid  to  the  bookseller.  Our  fellow 
citizens  occasion  us  much  concern,  inasmuch  as  nothing  can  ex- 
ceed the  disorder  of  this  republic,  and  the  church  of  God  here  is 
tossed  about  by  conflicting  waves,  like  Noah's  ark  by  the  waters 
of  the  deluge.  But  notwithstanding  all  that,  such  is  the  nature 
of  the  commotion  that  it  not  only  does  not  weaken  the  faith  of 
pious  men,  but  does  not  even  agitate  their  minds  more  than  if 
they  were  riding  quietly  at  anchor  in  a  secure  harbour.  And 
assuredly  in  whatever  corner  of  the  world  the  sons  of  God  now 
take  up  their  habitation,  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  be  fortified 
by  a  rare  constancy  against  the  storms  that  are  everywhere 
raging.  The  emperor  is  at  present  carrying  on  war  against  the 
people  of  Sienna  with  immense  preparations.  He  has  also  a 
second  army  in  Piedmont,  and  is  himself  in  Belgium  re-assem- 
bling fresh  forces,  that  he  may  make  a  new  incursion  into 
Picardy.  France  is  everywhere  collecting  what  troops  and 
money  she  can.  I  cannot  easily  divine  what  will  be  the  issue 
of  the  convulsions  in  Germany,  and  yet  the  obstinacy  of  the 
Count  of  Mansfeld  in  carrying  on  the  war  is  astonishing,  since 
even  during  the  severe  cold  of  the  inclement  climate  of  Saxony, 
he  continued  the  campaign  during  the  whole  winter. 

In  the  mean  time  your  wretched  fellow-townsmen,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Constance,  not  only  freely  indulge  themselves,  but  revel 
in  their  wantonness.  A  terrible  vengeance  of  God  no  doubt ! 
For  it  is  very  evident  that  God  thus  punishes  their  impious  con- 
tempt of  his  doctrine,  by  giving  them  up  to  that  brutal  intem- 
perance as  to  a  spirit  of  giddiness  and  folly.  And  though  I 
am  aware  it  is  a  sad  and  bitter  thing  for  you  to  hear  what  you 
write  to  me  about  the  blindness  of  your  native  place,  yet  this 


1552.]  FKANCIS    DKYANDER.  415 

one  reflection  ought  to  afford  you  no  small  consolation,  that  God 
in  this  manner  sets  his  seal  upon  your  ministry,  which  was  by 
them  at  that  time  so  unworthily  despised.' 

It  was  my  wish  to  lengthen  out  my  letter  a  little  more,  but 
you  must  pardon  my  brevity  for  I  can  stand  this  long  fasting 
no  longer.  Farewell,  most  accomplished  man  and  honoured 
brother.  My  colleagues  and  many  godly  men  salute  you  ;  will 
you,  in  your  turn,  salute  very  cordially  for  me,  our  brother 
Justin  ?  May  the  Lord  preserve  you  and  your  Church,  watch 
over  you,  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  bless  your  holy  labour. 

From  the  whole  heart — Yours, 

John  Calvin. 

[Lat.  Orig.     Library  of  Munich,  Coll.  Cammana,  viii.  p.  164.] 


IX. — To  Francis  Dryander.' 

Consultation  on  the  subject  of  a  new  edition  of  the  Bible — Troubles  in  Geneva — 
Apology  of  Calvin  for  himself. 

Geneva,  November,  1552. 
If  my  delay  in  replying  to  you  hitherto  has  given  you  of- 
fence, I  should  not  be  surprised  at  it,  for  though  you  make  me 
no  reproach,  yet  I  cannot  conceal  from  myself  that  I  ought  to 
blush  for  my  too  prolonged  silence.  One  thing  only  I  beg  of 
you,  which  is  that  you  will  not  suppose  me  to  be  so  indolent  nor 
so  unpolite  as  to  have  neglected  a  friendly  office  which  is  due 

'  It  is  to  this  apostasy  of  Constance,  of  which  he  had  been  the  reformer,  that 
Blaurer  alludes  in  a  letter  to  Calvin,  in  which  we  read  these  words  :  "  Unhappy  that 
I  am,  who  survive  my  country,  which,  though  still  alive,  is  virtually  dead."  MSS. 
of  Geneva. 

"  See  the  note  Vol.  I.  p.  3.  It  appears  that  independently  of  his  translation  of  the 
New  Testament  into  Spanish,  Francis  Dry:uiiicr  had  undertaken  imnien.se  labours  on 
the  Scriptures.  "  If  God  permit,  I  should  wish  to  publish  before  my  death  the  books 
of  the  Bible,  upon  which  I  have  bestowed  all  my  pains  during  fifteen  years."  This 
wish  expressed  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Calvin  (Oct.  1552)  was  not  realized.  But 
Dryander  nevertheless  deserves  a  place  among  the  propagators  of  the  Reformation  iu 
Spain. 


416  FRANCIS   DRYANDER.  [1552. 

both  to  yourself  and  your  pious  wish,  had  an  opportunity  and 
the  means  of  performing  it  presented  themselves.  But  seldom, 
as  far  as  I  know  in  these  unpropitious  times,  do  any  persons  go 
from  this  place  to  your  country  to  whom  I  might  venture  to  en- 
trust a  letter.  Besides  these  causes  of  delay,  the  penury  of  such 
matters  as  I  should  have  wished  to  write  upon,  checked  my 
desire  to  send  you  a  very  speedy  answer.  I  have  had  a  confer- 
ence with  eight  more  of  my  friends  respecting  the  business  of 
which  you  sent  me  word.  Stephen  Tremuleius  still  abides  by 
his  resolution.  The  others  I  found  not  quite  so  well  disposed : 
some,  because  there  are  few  at  the  present  moment  who  can 
readily  lay  their  hands  upon  their  funds,  having  invested  their 
money  in  other  transactions ;  others,  because  they  fancy  that 
it  would  be  a  tedious  and  difficult  matter  to  dispose  of  all  the 
copies  of  such  an  edition  ;  and  others  again  there  are  who  ap- 
prehend that  the  sale  of  the  volumes  would  not  cover  the  ex- 
penses which  the  publication  of  so  extensive  a  work  necessarily 
requires,  even  if  it  went  off  more  rapidly  than  they  have  any 
reason  to  expect.  For  they  imagine,  as  you  yourself  informed 
us  by  letter,  that  it  is  now  a  long  time  since  you  first  undertook 
your  task.  They  foresee  how  much  your  journey  here  will  cost, 
and  how  expensive  the  correction  of  the  press  will  be,  especially 
as  you  are  resolved  to  send  to  Paris  for  an  assistant  to  superin- 
tend the  impression.  They  conjecture,  too,  that  you  will  not 
have  many  purchasers,  because  most  of  them  will  be  deterred 
by  the  enormity  of  the  price.  Besides  they  are  afraid  of  envy 
and  unfavourable  reports.  I  see,  moreover,  that  the  subsidiary 
and  casual  expenses  which  I  spoke  of  never  enter  into  their  cal- 
culations. In  the  mean  time,  if  they  are  called  upon  for  any- 
thing which  they  imagine  to  be  beyond  what  is  just  and 
moderate,  they  in  their  ignorance  complain  of  it  and  set  it  down 
to  the  account  of  extortion.  I  am  myself,  too,  of  such  a  cha- 
racter that  I  dare  not  press  them  more  sharply.  Now  in  mat- 
ters of  so  doubtful  a  character,  and  which  afford  so  small  a 
prospect  of  success  (at  least  much  smaller  than  I  could  have 
wished),  I  am  at  a  loss  what  advice  to  give  you.  I  have  no 
need,  however,  to  employ  many  words  to  prove  that  I  have  the 
greatest  inclination  to  be  of  use  to  you,  should  an  opportunity 


1552.]  FRANCIS   DRYANDER.  417 

of  showing  it  occur,  and  that  too  not  only  for  the  sake  of  the 
public  good,  which  should  always  be  a  primary  consideration, 
but  also  because  I  am  extremely  grieved  to  see  you  living  in 
perpetual  fear  and  amid  various  perils.  Though  when  I  look 
around  me  and  see  from  what  quarter  storms  arise  and  where 
they  alight,  I  come  to  the  conclusion  that  no  where  in  this 
world  is  to  be  found  a  harbour  of  undisturbed  and  lasting  tran- 
quillity. Certainly  as  matters  stand  here  we  are  not  far  from 
the  range  of  hostile  missiles ;  at  least  we  stand  in  almost  equal 
jeopardy.  But  know  that  I  have  been  so  long  inured  to  the 
intestine  strife  of  which  rumours,  as  you  write  to  me,  have  reached 
you,  that  they  find  me  quite  callous.  Still  I  take  it  kindly  of 
you  to  exhort  me  to  moderation,  for  I  have  learned  by  long  ex- 
perience how  difficult  it  is  to  preserve  a  just  measure  when 
people  have  once  come  to  wrangling.  They  are  on  a  dangerous 
descent  on  which  they  are  very  liable  to  be  carried  away  by 
passion.  I  am  perfectly  aware  also  that  my  own  temper  is 
naturally  inclined  to  be  rather  violent.  Here,  however,  we 
have  competent  judges  who  according  to  circumstances  are  in  a 
better  position  to  pronounce  what  measures  are  to  be  considered  as 
excessive,  and  what  tempered  by  a  proper  degree  of  moderation. 
But  you  would  be  surprised,  I  dare  say,  did  you  hear,  that  in 
all  these  turmoils  I  have  been  as  unruffled  as  those  who  pass 
for  men  of  a  sluggish  and  phlegmatic  temperament. 

After  the  condemnation  of  that  monk,  who  had  been  let  loose 
on  us  from  among  the  creatures  of  M.  de  Tralais,'  a  brawling 
fellow  suddenly  sprung  up  who  having  clandestinely  fomented 
intrigues,  went  about  incessantly  repeating  not  only  in  private 
houses,  but  up  and  down  in  taverns,  that  we  had  made  God  the 
author  of  sin.^  In  other  respects,  too,  he  most  contumaciously 
traduced  our  ministry.  When  I  perceived  that  these  foul  calum- 
nies were  everywhere  disseminated,  by  means  of  which  ungodly 
men  were  openly  plotting  to  overthrow  the  whole  kingdom  of 
Christ  in  this  city,  I  mildly  admonished  the  people  to  be  on 
their  guard  against  these  men.  I  also  pointed  out  to  the  senate 
the  danger  of  temporising  amid  such  dissensions.  Those  who 
had  instigated  him  for  the  purpose  of  molesting  me,  spun  out 

'  See  Vol.  II.,  pp.  322,  381.  » Ibidem,  p.  363. 

53 


418  FRANCIS    DRYANDER.  [1552. 

the  affair  in  such  a  manner  by  their  intrigues  that  for  three 
months  they  kept  me  in  uncertainty.  For  among  the  judges 
there  were  several  supporters  of  the  adverse  party.  But  of  the 
numerous  injuries  I  had  to  endure  none  was  so  bitter  and  cruel 
to  me  as  to  see  myself  dragged  into  an  invidious  disagreement 
with  Melancthon,  from  which,  however,  I  so  dexterously  disen- 
gaged myself,  that  during  the  whole  preceding  I  continued  to 
say  nothing  but  what  was  to  the  honour  of  so  great  a  man. 
The  whole  faction  seeing  themselves  completely  baffled,  kindled 
a  new  conflagration  for  the  purpose  of  extinguishing  the  former 
one.  Three  abandoned  scoundrels,  of  the  principal  families  of 
the  city,  however,  having  contumeliously  attacked  our  brother 
Raymond,  at  last  proceeded  to  such  extremities  as  to  throw  the 
ecclesiastical  meeting  for  that  day  into  utter  confusion.  We 
came  to  an  unanimous  decision  that  our  complaint  should  be 
laid  before  the  senate.  When  they  had  been  thus  condemned 
by  a  judgment  of  the  elders,  one  of  them  for  the  sake  of  trying 
my  firmness  or  my  influence,  presented  a  child  for  baptism.  I 
refused  to  inscribe  the  name  of  his  sponsor.  All  of  ^them  began 
to  vociferate  that  there  was  a  manifest  conspiracy.  Meanwhile 
amid  a  horrid  din,  outcries,  abusive  language,  and  threats,  I 
maintained  such  empire  over  my  temper  that  not  one  word 
dropped  from  me  that  betrayed  the  least  agitation.  Were  you 
well  acquainted  with  the  present  state  of  affairs  here,  you  would 
say  that  it  is  only  by  the  marvellous  wisdom  of  the  Lord,  that 
swords  have  not  been  drawn  a  hundred  times,  especially  as  those 
who  had  the  greatest  influence  were  provoked  so  often  and  in 
so  infamous  a  manner.  First  of  all  the  man  who  had  atro- 
ciously attacked  my  doctrine,  and  profanely  traduced  my  whole 
ministry,  has  escaped  with  impunity,  though  it  was  in  my  power 
to  crush  him  completely.  I  deemed  it  sufficient  that  the  senate 
should  pronounce  an  opinion  on  the  matter  in  dispute,  without 
any  regard  to  the  persons  that  had  agitated  it,  so  that  others 
might  willingly  return  to  fellowship  with  us.  But  it  is  better 
to  suffer  a  hundred  deaths,  rather  than  swerve  a  hair's  breadth 
from  the  straight  line. 

Farel  and  Viret  were  here  ten  whole  days ;  they  will  bear 
ample  testimony,  I  trust,  to  my  forbearance ;  for  they  saw  how 


1553.]  FAREL.  419 

many  tragical  matters  that  referred  to  ourselves  alone,  tvc  passed 
over  in  silence,  what  affronts  we  quietly  devoured,  how  many 
offences  we  pardoned,  but  there  are  many  things,  at  which  if  I 
should  connive,  I  should  perfidiously  betray  both  Christ  and  the 
flock  which  he  has  committed  to  my  charge.  So  then  you  have 
no  occasion  to  feel  any  uneasiness  on  my  account,  when  you 
shall  hear  in  future  that  I  am  engaged  in  controversies.  One 
thing,  however,  I  entreat  of  you  is  that  you  would  not  deem  me 
so  fond  of  power,  as  willingly  to  bring  enemies  and  contentions 
upon  my  head.  Certainly  nothing  could  be  dearer  to  me  than 
tranquillity  and  lettered  ease,  did  He  under  whose  banner  I  do 
battle,  grant  me  such  an  indulgence ;  but  I  candidly  confess  to 
you  that  I  felt  considerable  surprise  when  you  proposed  Hedio,' 
of  all  persons,  as  one  whose  example  I  ought  to  imitate.  This 
-want  of  due  discrimination  in  the  choice  of  your  model,  is  the 
reason  why  you  do  not  convince  me  that  I  ought  to  act  in  the 
manner  you  recommend.^     *     *     *     * 

[Lat.  Orig.     hihrary  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107,  a.] 


X.  To  Farel. 

Misunderstanding  between  Farel  and  his  colleague  Christopher  Fabri — Attempt  to  re- 
concile them. 

Geneva,  19?A  July,  1553. 

I  wish,  my  dear  Farel,  I  could  find  a  better  remedy  for  your 
evils  than  that  which  I  here  think  of  offering  you.  But  as  you 
yourself  arc  well  aware  that  there  are  many  things  which  we 
must  endure,  because  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  correct  them,  I 
shall  not  spend  many  words  in  exhorting  you  to  sliow  yourself 
gentle  and  moderate,  in  a  contest  which  is  evidently  not  embit- 
tered by  personal  hostility ;  if,  indeed,  that  should  be  called  a 
contest  in  which  your  colleague  differs  from  you,  without  any 

"  Hedio,  a  minister  and  theologian  of  Strasbourg,  died  in  1552.     A  lover  of  ease,  he 
always  kept  aloof  from  the  strifes  and  disputes  of  his  time. 

'  The  end  is  wanting.     See  the  Letter  to  Nicolas  Zcrkinden.     Vol.  III.,  p.  42S. 


420  FAEEL.  [1553. 

malevolent  feeling,  or  desire  to  breed  disturbances.  In  what 
points  I  think  him  defective,  as  you  yourself  are  my  best  au- 
thority on  that  subject,  I  shall  for  the  moment  forbear  to  men- 
tion ;  but  one  thing  we  know  that  the  man  is  pious  and  zealous 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  Add  to  that — he  loves  you — is 
anxious  to  have  your  approbation,  and  both  considers  and  re- 
spects you  as  a  parent.  Now  if  he  sometimes  carries  himself 
rather  more  frowardly  than  he  ought,  the  chief  cause  of  such 
conduct  appears  to  me  to  be  this :  he  fancies  that  you  are  too 
rigid  and  morose,  and  so  he  aims  at  a  certain  popularity  which 
may  smooth  down  offences.  Thus  the  good  man,  while  he  is 
consulting  your  tranquillity,  and  guarding  against  ill  will,  which 
he  believes  neither  of  you  can  stand  against,  forgets  the  firm- 
ness and  dignity  which  should  belong  to  a  minister  of  Christ ; 
and  while  he  imposes  on  you  the  necessity  of  resisting  him,  he 
furnishes  the  gainsayers  with  arms  to  assail  your  common  min- 
istry. I  see  how  vexatious  and  provoking  a  proceeding  this  is, 
nor  am  I  ignorant  how  much  blame  his  fault  deserves.  But 
your  own  prudence  and  love  of  fair  dealing  will  suggest  to  you 
that  you  ought  on  the  other  hand  to  number  up  the  good  quali- 
ties which  counterbalance  his  defects.  If  he  is  carried  away 
by  an  overwhelming  self-confidence,  you  know  that  there  is  in 
it  not  one  particle  of  rankling  malice ;  if  he  is  chargeable  with 
obstinacy,  nothing  was  ever  farther  from  his  thoughts  than  to 
breed  disturbances  in  the  Church,  or  gain  a  triumph  for  himself, 
by  bringing  his  brethren  into  contempt.  Then  why  not  show 
indulgence  to  his  imprudence  ?  You  bore  with  Chaponneau, 
not  only  a  man  of  no  mark,  but  one  who  seemed  born  for 
kindling  strife;  who  with  his  foolish  arrogance  trampled  upon 
all  order  in  the  Church ;  who  with  his  malignant  cavils  impu- 
dently sought  to  overturn  whatever  had  been  duly  and  orderly 
arranged ;  who  was  urged  on  to  do  mischief  by  some  fatal  genius, 
as  well  as  by  his  own  rabid  instincts;  and  who  with  premeditated 
purpose  set  all  the  factions  on  to  plot  the  ruin  of  the  Church. 
With  how  much  greater  reason,  then,  should  you  strive  to  foster 
peace  with  a  man  who  both  desires  faithfully  to  serve  the  Lord 
along  with  you,  and  abhors  all  rancorous  dissensions !     But  you 


1555.]  CHRISTOPHER   PIPERIN.  421 

are  bound  not  only  to  maintain  peace  with  him,  but  to  cultivate 
friendship  also. 

For  if  you  bear  in  mind  how  few  tolerably  good  ministers  we 
have  in  the  present  day,  you  will  be  on  your  guard  how  you 
slight  a  man  who  is  both  honest  and  diligent,  endowed,  more- 
over, with  other  most  estimable  gifts.  And  as  it  will  be  expe- 
dient to  bury  in  silence  any  little  angry  feeling  you  may  have 
hitherto  conceived  against  him,  so  also  it  will  be  better  in  future 
to  remonstrate  frankly  with  him,  should  he  give  you  any  grounds 
for  offence ;  provided  always  such  remonstrances  do  not  break 
out  into  an  open  rupture.  Let  him  only  feel  that  you  love  him, 
and  I  answer  for  it,  you  will  find  him  tolerably  docile. 

Last  Sabbath  a  merchant  was  burned  at  Lyons,  who  marched 
to  execution  with  astonishing  firmness  and  no  less  moderation. 
His  relations  and  fellow-townsmen  attempted  by  all  the  motives 
they  could  suggest  to  urge  him  to  a  recantation.  His  mother 
flung  herself  three  times  at  his  feet,  and  with  tears  most  suppli- 
antly  entreated  him  to  spare  his  own  life,  but  to  no  purpose. 
The  storm  of  persecution  is  everywhere  raging  in  France.  In 
the  Beauce  it  is  the  nobility  who  are  chiefly  molested. 

Farewell,  most  upright  and  esteemed  brother.  May  the  Lord 
continue  to  direct  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  long  preserve  you  in 
safety.     Salute  your  brother  and  friends. 

[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  11 L] 


XL — To  Christopher  Piperin. 

Trials  and  tribulations  of  CalviQ  at  Geneva. 

Geneva,  ISth  October,  1555. 

It  is  true,  my  dear  Piperin,  when  I  hear  that  I  am  every- 
where so  foully  defamed,  I  have  not  such  iron  nerves  as  not  to 
be  stung  with  sorrow.  But  it  is  no  slight  consolation  to  me 
that  yourself  and  many  other  servants  of  Christ  and  pious 
worshippers  of  God  sympathize  with  me  in  my  wrongs.  And 
yet  if  it  were  possible,  I  had  rather  devour  in  silence  whatever 


422  CHRISTOPHER    PIPERIN.  [1555. 

insults  are  heaped  upon  me,  that  no  portion  of  my  annoyances  * 
should  extend  to  my  brethren.  This  it  is,  among  other  reasons, 
which  makes  me  pass  by,  without  notice,  calumnies,  which  it  would 
be  very  easy  for  me  to  refute,  and  which  I  should  wish  to  shake 
off.  For  why  should  I  worry  honest  people  with  my  zeal  for 
vindicating  my  own  reputation  ?  Did  there  exist  a  greater 
necessity  for  it,  having  entreated  their  indulgence,  I  should  lay 
my  defence  before  them.  But  the  scurrilous  calumnies  with 
which  malignant  men  bespatter  me,  are  too  unfounded  and  too 
silly  to  require  any  laboured  confutation  on  my  part.  The 
authors  of  them  would  tax  me  with  self-importance,  and  laugh 
at  me  as  being  too  anxious  about  clearing  up  my  character. 
One  example  of  these  falsehoods  is  that  immense  sum  of  money 
which  you  mention.  Everybody  knows  how  frugally  I  live  in 
my  own  house.  Every  one  sees  that  I  am  at  no  expense  for 
the  splendor  of  my  dress.  It  is  perfectly  well  known  every- 
where that  my  only  brother  is  far  from  being  very  rich,  and 
that  the  little  which  he  has,  he  acquired  without  any  influence 
of  mine.  Where  then  was  that  hidden  treasure  dug  up  ?  But 
they  openly  give  out  that  I  have  robbed  the  poor.  Well,  this 
charge  also,  these  most  slanderous  of  men  will  be  compelled  to 
confess  was  falsely  got  up  without  any  grounds.  I  have  never 
had  the  handling  of  one  farthing  of  the  money  which  charitable 
people  have  bestowed  on  the  poor.  About  eight  years  ago,  a 
man  of  rank  died  in  my  house  who  had  deposited  upwards  of 
two  thousand  crowns  with  me,  and  without  demanding  one  scrap 
of  writing  to  prove  the  deposit.  When  I  perceived  that  his 
life  was  in  danger,  though  he  wished  to  entrust  that  sum  to  my 
management,  I  refused  to  undertake  so  responsible  a  charge. 
I  contrived,  however,  that  eight  hundred  crowns  should  be  sent 
to  Strasbourg  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  exiles.  By  my  advice 
he  chose  men  above  all  suspicion  to  distribute  the  remainder  of 
the  sum.  When  he  wished  to  appoint  me  one  of  their  number, 
to  which  the  others  made  no  objections,  I  refused ;  but  I  see 
what  nettles  my  enemies.  As  they  form  an  estimate  of  my 
character  from  their  own,  they  feel  convinced  that  I  must  amass, 
wherever  I  find  a  good  opportunity.  But  if  during  my  lifetime 
I  do  not  escape  the  reputation  of  being  rich,  death  will  at  last 


1555.]  COUNT   TARXOW,  423 

vindicate  my  cliaracter  from  this  imputation.  And  I  should 
never  have  done  writing  were  I  to  direct  my  thoughts  to  com- 
posing a  defence.  If  many  flying  reports  are  bandied  about  in 
your  quarter,  know  that  they  form  not  a  hundredth  part  of  tlie 
rumors  with  which  my  ears  are  here  continually  stunned.  I 
have  nothing  for  it  then  but  to  give  some  explanation,  and  yet 
for  all  that  I  must  hold  out  my  cheek  to  the  smiters.  But  let 
us  go  on,  my  dear  Christopher,  through  evil  report  and  through 
good  report,  and  let  us  not  suffer  ourselves  to  be  cast  down  by 
slanderous  rumors.  Though  if  we  trace  all  this  calumny  up 
to  its  source,  we  shall  find  that  we  can  only  overcome  it  by 
patient  endurance.  For  no  one  would  think  of  breathing  a 
syllable  against  us,  did  not  a  set  of  worthless  fellows  perceive 
that  in  so  doing  they  are  executing  a  task  well  pleasing  to  the 
princes,  and  are  sure  beforehand  of  their  reward;  these  false- 
hoods, moreover,  would  speedily  disappear,  were  they  not  care- 
fully kept  up  by  the  very  persons  for  whose  sake  they  have 
been  invented.  Here  I  stop:  for  I  am  obliged  suddenly  to 
break  off  my  letter. 

Farewell,  my  best,  and  dearest  brother.  May  the  Lord 
always  stand  by  you,  govern  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  bless  your 
labours. 

[Calvin's  Lat.  Corresp.     Opera,  ix.  p.  103.] 


XII.— To  Count  Tarnow.> 

An  exhortation  strenuously  to  promote  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Poland. 

Geneva,  29(A  Deecmher,  1555. 

Behold  how  much  confidence  the  fame  of  your  virtue  imparts 
to   me,  a   fame  which  N.,  a  trustworthy  and  competent  eye- 

•"Most  illustrious  Seigneur,  and  distinguished  for  his  excellent  virtues,  Governor 
of  Cracow,  and  Commander  in  Chief  in  the  Kingdom  of  Poland." 

Notwithstanding  the  reiterated  exhortations  of  the  Reformer,  this  nobleiniin  seems 
to  have  taken  but  a  slight  part  in  the  evangelization  of  his  country.  While  he  en- 
couraged Calvin  to  continue  to  write  to  him,  and  recommended  himself  to  his  prayers. 


42  i  COUNT   TARNOW.  [1555. 

witness  has  extolled  before  me  with  no  ordinary  encomiums. 
This  is  the  cause  why  I,  a  person  perhaps  unknown  to  you, 
venture  not  only  to  address  you  by  letter,  but  also  familiarly 
discuss  with  you  a  matter  of  the  highest  importance  to  all,  and 
exhort  you  to  undertake  the  weighty  task  which  I  now  oflFer  to 
your  consideration.  Some  time  ago  we  were  led  to  entertain 
tolerable  hopes  of  recalling  the  kingdom  of  Poland  to  the  pure 
and  genuine  faith  of  Christ ;  and  though  by  the  crooked  devices 
of  Satan,  manifold  obstacles  have  been  interposed  to  the  pro- 
gress of  this  good  work,  yet  at  length  God  has  opened  a  door 
for  his  Son,  by  which  he  invites  all  reverently  to  receive  him. 

Now,  many  indeed,  as  I  hear,  eagerly  rush  to  meet  him,  and 
offer  to  the  heavenly  Sovereign  those  duties  of  piety,  which  of 
right  belong  to  him,  and  with  such  zeal,  too,  that  in  the  ranks 
of  the  nobility  a  holy  unanimity  of  purpose  to  welcome  purity 
of  doctrine,  is  no  less  prevalent,  than  is  an  untamable  spirit  of 
rancour  among  the  enemies  of  Christ  banded  to  hinder  the  free 
course  of  the  gospel.  But  you,  most  excellent  sir,  who  are  in- 
vested with  the  highest  authority,  and  on  whom  the  eyes  of  the 
king,  as  well  as  of  others  are  fixed,  it  would  but  ill  become  to 
remain  quiescent,  or  to  advance  with  tardy  steps,  while  others 
are  pressing  strenuously  forward ;  nor  has  God  indeed  raised 
you  to  your  present  eminence  upon  any  other  terms,  than  that 
from  your  lofty  post  you  should  bear  high  his  standard  in  the 
sight  of  all,  and  quicken  the  alacrity  of  their  zeal.  For  it 
would  be  passing  strange,  indeed,  if,  while  so  many  illustrious 
men  are  now  advancing  to  battle,  spontaneously  and  undauntedly 
in  the  front  ranks,  you  who  are  not  less  distinguished  for 
wisdom  and  counsel  than  for  your  station,  should  not  be  found 
in  the  mean  time  marching  at  their  head.  For  though  I  am 
aware  that  the  leading  part  in  this  cause  belongs  to  his  most 
Serene  Highness  the  king,  yet  since  he  seems  suflSciently  well 

he  started  objections  founded  on  his  fear  of  the  troubles  which  follow  great  innova- 
tions and  the  multiplicity  of  sects ;  and  he  wished  to  reduce  the  Reformation  to  the 
correction  of  some  abuses.  In  a  letter  of  a  posterior  date,  (15th  November,  1559,) 
Calvin  addressed  to  him  severe  remonstrances  which  were  softened  only  by  the  re- 
spect due  to  his  rank.  "Your  excellency  will  pardon  me,  if  I  feel  indignant  that  the 
sacred  name  of  God  and  zeal  for  religion  should  be  treated  as  if  they  were  a  subject 
for  jesting  and  pleasantry." 


1555.]  corNT  TARNOw.  425 

inclined  of  his  own  accord  to  act  properly,  he  will  put  forth 
much  more  confidently,  I  trust,  all  his  energies,  when  he  shall 
find  in  you  a  steady  supporter  and  adherent.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  I  think,  but  Christ  deserves  this  at  your  hands,  that  you 
should  accept  the  command  of  all  his  generous  soldiers.  And 
already  you  have  advanced  so  far,  that  all  doubt  respecting  the 
sincerity  of  your  afiections  is  at  an  end.  My  only  fear  is  that 
by  procrastinating,  you  allow  too  much  time  to  escape.  As- 
suredly by  far  too  much  blame  has  hitherto  been  incurred  by 
tardy  measures.  Now  that  same  God  who  has  opened  a  door 
for  his  gospel  is  calling  with  a  loud  voice  upon  the  king  himself, 
and  upon  all  the  nobles,  to  make  an  open  and  unambiguous  pro- 
fession of  his  doctrine.  Wherefore,  most  excellent  sir,  call  to 
mind  that  admonition  of  the  prophet — "  in  an  acceptable  time 
I  have  heard  thee,  and  in  a  day  of  salvation  I  have  helped  thee," 
which  solicits  all  the  sons  of  God  sedulously  to  embrace  the  time 
of  his  visitation,  lest  the  grace  once  offered,  if  slighted  through 
slothfulness,  should  at  last  be  withdrawn.  Because  it  frequently 
comes  to  pass  that  joyful  beginnings,  which  promise  a  prosperous 
issue,  produce  in  many  men  a  sluggish  disposition,  every  one 
should  prudently  beware  not  to  extinguish  the  light  which  has 
begun  to  break  forth,  nor  permit  torpor  to  creep  upon  him.  I 
am  aware  that  a  certain  measure  is  always  to  be  observed,  that 
by  urging  you  too  sharply  I  may  not  seem  to  distrust  your 
piety ;  still  the  importance  as  well  as  the  difficulty  of  the  work, 
compels  me  to  dissemble  none  of  the  incentives  which  should  stir 
you  to  action,  in  order  that  the  faithful  servants  of  Christ  may 
not  find  you  deficient  in  any  one  thing,  to  bte  expected  from  a 
man  of  your  high  reputation.  TAs  the  sole  end  for  which  we 
live  is  to  worship  God  in  purity,  the  whole  scope  of  my  argu- 
ment then  comes  to  this — that  attaching  an  inferior  importance 
to  all  other  concerns,  we  are  bound  to  make  it  our  principal 
occupation,  by  the  extirpation  of  every  superstition,  to  clear  the 
way  for  the  progress  of  true  religion.  Now  indeed  by  what 
foul  corruptions  it  has  been  well  nigh  extinguished  under  the 
Papacy  can  scarcely  be  expressed  in  words,  or  contemplated 
without  the  deepest  horror^  Nay,  since  popery  altogether  is 
nothing  but  a  sacrilegious  profanation  of  God's  name,  blended 
5i 


426  COUNT   TARNOW,  [1555. 

with  innumerable  mummeries,  if  we  are  lukewarm  in  purging 
away  these  pollutions,  our  sluggishness  will  be  held  to  be  inex- 
cusable in  the  sight  of  God  and  his  angels.  Moreover,  as  the 
confession  of  his  truth  is  a  thing  most  agreeable  to  God,  and  a 
sacrifice  of  most  sweet  smelling  odour,  and  as  an  unshaken  con- 
stancy in  maintaining  it,  is  justly  reckoned  among  the  highest 
duties  of  piety,  there  is  no  kind  of  office  in  which  you  can  put 
forth  all  your  courage  or  exercise  yourself  with  greater  renown. 
Again  when  you  yourself  behold  with  what  courage  the  enemies 
of  Christ  contend  for  their  own  usurped  power,  and  how  furiously 
they  oppose  the  doctrine  which  the  Son  of  God  has  asserted 
with  his  blood,  it  would  be  strange  if  their  wickedness  did  not 
animate  you  to  emulate  them ;  in  other  words,  that  you  should 
strive  with  less  activity  in  vindicating  the  glory  of  God  than 
they  do  in  destroying  it.  If  you  have  remarked  by  how  noble 
a  title  the  Holy  Spirit  has  honoured  those  whom  he  styled  the 
first  fruits  of  Achaia,  certainly  you  will  make  an  effort  not  to 
be  classed  among  the  last,  nor  among  any  but  the  first  of  those 
who  are  at  present  the  defenders  of  a  resucitating  gospel  in 
Poland.  Add  that  in  nothing  can  you  give  a  better  proof  of 
your  fidelity  to  his  most  Serene  Highness  the  king.  For  though 
the  state  of  his  kingdom  is  tranquil  at  the  present  moment,  yet 
if  he  would  enjoy  the  continuance  of  this  good  fortune,  he  will 
find  that  the  best  means  of  securing  so  valuable  a  blessing  will 
be  to  establish  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  For  though  God, 
that  he  may  show  himself  to  be  the  Protector  of  the  human  race, 
does  not  permit  political  order  to  be  overturned  even  among 
pagans,  nevertheless  it  is  evident  from  numberless  examples 
that  this  blessing  no  where  remains  so  permanently,  as  where 
true  religion  flourishes.  And  when  the  gospel  opens  up  to 
us  the  inestimable  treasures  of  eternal  life,  we  must  consider 
it  as  no  contemptible  accession  to  the  advantages  which  it  brings 
in  its  train,  that  God  takes  under  his  protection  the  kingdoms 
and  principalities  in  which  it  is  established.  From  whatsoever 
places  then  the  impiety  of  popery  has  been  expelled  to  make 
room  for  the  restoration  of  true  piety,  there  too  we  see  the  laws 
and  tribunals  in  vigour,  a  greater  respect  for  magistrates  prevail, 
and   the  people  everywhere  restrained  within  the  bounds  of 


1557.]  GODFREY  VAKAGLIA.  427 

moderation  and  contentment.  For  this  reason  so  much  the 
more  intolerable  is  the  wickedness  of  those  who  perversely  dis- 
credit the  doctrine  which  we  teach,  as  if  it  sapped  the  edifice 
of  social  order,  when  on  the  contrary  experience  everywhere 
proclaims  that  it  cannot  repose  on  a  more  secure  foundation. 
Our  brother,  in  a  personal  interview,  will  treat  of  these  matters 
much  more  conveniently  with  you,  than  it  is  possible  for  me  to 
do  by  means  of  a  letter. 

Farewell,  most  accomplished  and  illustrious  sir.  May  Christ 
who  has  endowed  you  with  such  excellent  gifts,  direct  your 
mind  and  thoughts  to  make  a  legitimate  use  of  them.  May  he 
sustain  you  by  his  power,  and  accompany  you  with  all  his  bless- 
ings even  unto  the  end. 

\_Calvin's  Lat.  Corresp.     Opera,  ix.  p.  104.] 


XIII.  To  Godfrey  Varaglia.' 

Exhortation  to  Martyrdom. 

Geneva,  \1th  December,  1557. 

Though  the  tidings  respecting  your  bonds,  my  dearest  brother, 
were  very  sorrowful  to  us,  yet  they  would  have  afflicted  us  still 
more  deeply  had  not  God,  who  is  wont  to  make  light  arise  out 
of  darkness,  tempered  our  grief  with  some  portion  of  gladness. 
For  we  have  occasion  to  congratulate  ourselves  that  your  labours 
in  the  very  prison  have  begun  to  be  so  fruitful,  that  they  have 
contributed  more  to  the  glory  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  than  if 
you  had  been  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  your  liberty. 

'  The  Reformation  in  Italy  had  not  a  more  ardent  missionary  nor  a  more  intrepid 
martyr  than  Godfrey  Varaglia.  Born  in  Piedmont  and  early  enrolled  in  the  order  of 
the  Capuchins,  he  quitted  them  in  order  to  preach  the  gospel  with  an  eloquence 
which  equalled  that  of  the  celebrated  Ochino.  With  greater  constancy  than  the 
latter,  he  was  destined  to  seal  his  confession  with  his  blood.  Apprehended  in  the 
valley  of  Angrogne  in  1557,  he  nobly  confessed  the  gospel  in  his  dungeon,  and  before 
his  judges.  Questioned  by  them  respecting  the  number  of  his  companions,  he  replied 
that  he  lived  with  twenty-four  preachers,  most  of  whom  had  come  from  Geneva,  and 
that  the  number  of  those  who  were  ready  to  follow  them  was  so  considerable,  that 
the  inquisitors  would  not  have  wood  enough  to  burn  them.  Ho  was  condemned  at 
Turin,  and  perished  at  the  stake  with  extraordinary  courage,  the  29th  March,  1558,  a 
few  mi^nths  after  having  received  the  last  exhortations  of  the  Reformer. 


428  GODFREY  VARAGLIA.  [1557. 

Not  without  reason,  then,  should  you  feel  your  courage  strength- 
ened by  that  boast  of  St.  Paul's,  that  though  the  enemy  holds 
you  captive,  yet  the  word  of  God  is  not  fettered,  and  that  not 
only  a  door  has  been  opened  up  for  hearers  who  might  dissem- 
inate more  widely  that  life-giving  seed  which  they  had  caught 
from  your  lips,  but  that  you  have  yourself  seen  its  fruits  spring 
up  before  your  eyes.  So  that  if  it  is  your  lot  to  be  bound  with 
fetters,  this  reward  of  your  labour  will  afford  you  no  common 
source  of  consolation.  For  if  the  confession  of  the  faith  be- 
fore a  crooked  and  perverse  generation,  be  a  sacrifice  grateful 
to  God,  how  much  more  sweet-smelling  will  that  savour  be,  which 
is  diffused  abroad  for  the  salvation  of  many  !  You  see,  more- 
over, my  brother,  to  what  a  warfare  you  have  been  called,  and 
this  is  what  you  must  carefully  turn  over  in  your  mind.  For 
when  Christ  exacts  even  from  private  individuals  their  testimony 
to  his  gospel,  by  how  much  holier  a  tie  does  he  hold  you  bound ! 
— you  whom  he  has  appointed  to  be  a  public  preacher  of  his 
doctrine,  which  is  now  persecuted  in  your  person.  Remember, 
then,  that  you  are  produced  as  a  witness  by  that  same  Master 
who  thought  you  worthy  of  so  high  an  honour,  that  what  you 
formerly  taught  with  your  lips  you  may,  if  need  be,  seal  with 
your  blood.  Mean  while,  doubt  not  but  he  will  be  a  faithful 
guardian  of  your  life,  and  since  he  has  promised  that  the  death 
of  his  saints  will  be  precious  in  his  eyes,  whatever  be  the  issue, 
let  this  compensation  sufiBce  you,  that  through  you  the  Son  of 
God  at  present  triumphs  to  the  end  that  he  may  finally  receive 
you  into  the  fellowship  of  his  everlasting  glory.  I  shall  not 
dwell  at  greater  length  on  this  subject  because  I  am  persuaded 
that  you  repose  on  the  faith  and  protection  of  Him — to  whom  as 
long  as  we  die  and  live — we  are  happier  in  our  death  than  worldly 
and  profane  men  are  in  their  life.  Farewell,  best  and  dearest 
brother.  My  colleagues  salute  you.  May  the  Lord  always 
stand  by  you,  govern  you  by  the  prudence  of  his  Spirit,  sustain 
you  with  his  invincible  courage,  and  shield  you  by  his  protec- 
tion— Yours, 

John , 

a  friend  whom  you  know. 
[Lat  Copy.    Library  of  Geneva,  Vol.  107,  a.} 


1558.]  MACAR.  429 


XIV.— To  Macar.' 

Congratulations  on  the  zoal  which  he  displays  at  Paris — Difficulties  that  stand  in  the 
way  of  sending  off  new  ministers — Letter  of  the  king  of  Navarre — Divers  par- 
ticulars. 

Geneva,  16(^  March,  1558. 

I  dare  scarcely  commend  your  punctuality  in  writing,  because 
it  would  then  be  difficult  for  me  to  excuse  my  own  negligence. 
It  is  better,  however,  to  admit  frankly  my  faultiness  in  this  re- 
spect, than  deprive  myself  of  a  favour  which  is  so  delightful  to 
myself  as  well  as  to  all  of  us.  I,  therefore,  entreat  you  most 
earnestly,  that  though  I  should  not  reply  to  you  in  my  turn, 
that  you  will  not  for  all  that  cease  to  lessen  in  part  by  frequent 
letters,  the  ennui  occasioned  by  your  absence.  Now  if  I  am 
disposed  to  furnish  you  with  some  plausible  excuses  for  my  lazi- 
ness, I  fear  I  shall  occasion  you  some  uneasiness  and  distress. 
Nearly  six  weeks  have  elapsed  since  I  was  seized  with  a  pain 
in  my  side,  which  yielding  to  medical  treatment  had  abated  a 
little  its  severity,  but  which  again  attacked  me  with  such  ag- 
gravated symptoms,  that  I  am  obliged  to  renounce  all  active  em- 
ployment. But  I  am  so  tired  of  doing  nothing,  that,  happen 
what  will,  I  feel  that  I  shall  be  forced  before  six  days  to  resume 
my  wonted  occupations. 

In  the  mean  time  I  am  delighted  to  hear  of  that  physical 
strength  with  which  God  has  endowed  you,  in  order  that  your 

'  John  Macar,  (or  Racham,)  a  native  of  Crans,  near  Laon,  in  Picardy,  and  a  refugee 
at  Geneva  for  the  sake  of  religion,  devoted  himself  to  the  ministry,  and  soon  became 
distinguished  by  his  masculine  eloquence  and  undaunted  character.  Called  to  Paris  as 
a  pastor  in  1557,  at  the  moment  in  which  the  most  rigorous  persecution  prevailed,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  accept  of  functions  surrounded  by  so  many  perils,  and  displayed 
in  the  discharge  of  them  a  zeal  and  charity  worthy  of  the  Apostolic  Church.  His 
correspondence  with  Calvin,  which  is  kept  at  Geneva,  is  one  of  the  most  precious 
monuments  of  the  faith,  in  those  trying  times  in  which  the  missionary  was  so  often 
called  to  close  his  career  by  martyrdom.  "The  king,"  says  he,  "multiplies  his 
threats,  and  declares  that  he  will  not  give  himself  any  rest  till  ho  has  extirpated 
from  his  kingdom  tho  very  last  heretic.  As  for  us,  who  have  our  anchor  fixed  ia 
heaven,  we  sail  amid  storms,  as  if  we  were  in  a  quiet  haven."  Library  of  Geneva. 
Tol.  112. 


430  MACAE.  [1558. 

activity  of  mind  should  be  supported  by  a  corresponding  vigour 
of  body.  Now  that  La  Roche  Chandieu  by  his  arrival  will 
take  a  part  of  the  burden  off  your  shoulders  you  will  go  on  with 
greater  courage  for  the  future.  We  are  extremely  sorry  that 
La  Riviere  should  be  pining  away  under  the  effects  of  a  linger- 
ing fever,  but  the  mild  weather  of  spring  will,  I  hope,  set  him 
to  rights. 

It  is  scarcely  at  all  in  our  power,  however  expedient  it  might 
be,  to  send  off  another  person  from  our  society,  and  your  breth- 
ren will,  in  their  equity,  forgive  us,  if  we  do  not  comply  with 
their  wishes,  because  we  thus  consult  their  interests  no  less  than 
our  own.  You  can  yourself  bear  witness  that  all  were  unani- 
mous in  wishing  to  devote  themselves  to  your  service.  But  we 
must  also  consider  how  far  our  duties  permit  us  to  act.  The 
excuse  you  make  about  the  expenses,  I  readily  admit.  Had 
they  refused  point  blank,  the  refusal  would  have  piqued  me 
more  slightly,  but  what  offended  me  more  seriously  was  theii 
writing,  not  without  a  certain  bantering  tone,  that  the  expedition 
had  not  been  undertaken  without  having  been  solicited  ;  and 
next,  that  it  was  by  no  means  fair  that  they  should  pay  away 
money  for  the  prisoners. 

The  king  of  Navarre  has  returned  me  a  very  polite  answer, 
and  though  I  am  aware  that  his  secretaries  for  the  most  part 
write  of  their  own  accord  in  a  more  courteous  style,  still  from 
certain  indications  I  am  warranted  to  conclude  that  the  whole 
proceeded  from  himself.  I  wish  that  what  Bussy  promised  in 
his  name  were  made  good  in  reality.  But  the  timidity  which 
usually  defeats  all  his  manly  resolutions,  is  an  object  of  suspicion 
to  me.  I  am  unwilling,  indeed,  before  the  time  to  augur  un- 
favourably, but  I  fear  me  you  will  discover  ere  long  that  those 
preachers  dealt  in  hyperbole,  who  so  emphatically  lauded  his 
virtues  among  you.  The  silliness  of  the  Baron  is  well  known 
to  me,  and  therefore,  whatever  is  represented  to  me  by  him 
goes  for  nothing.  Bussy,  though  he  be  scheming  nothing  with 
a  treacherous  intention,  may  yet  do  mischief  by  uselessly  busy- 
ing himself.  You  can  scarcely  believe  with  how  much  ambition 
he  is  inflamed,  how  inconsiderately  he  bustles,  and  with  what 
audacity  he  intermeddles  with  matters  that  do  not  concern  him. 


1558.]  MACAR.  431 

I  lately  hinted  to  jou  that  you  ought  to  interfere.  Now  I  more 
distinctly  advise  you  to  take  care  that  they  do  not  abuse  your 
too  easy  temper,  because  from  their  character  I  conjecture  that 
they  are  not  aiming  at  any  sober  or  moderate  measures.  Re- 
member, moreover,  that  his  loud  vaunts  are  mere  baits  to  catch 
the  unwary.  In  the  mean  time,  you  must  take  care  not  to 
alienate  them  ;  but  their  good  will  is  only  to  be  cultivated  to 
prevent  them  from  doing  mischief,  which  you  will  contrive 
prudently  to  prevent. 

I  had  written  thus  far,  when  towards  the  evening,  your  last 
letter  was  brought  to  me.  If  I  only  allude  briefly  to  a  few  of 
the  principal  points  contained  in  it,  you  will  excuse  me,  because 
the  pain  in  my  side  prevents  me  from  entering  more  into  detail. 
I  have  not,  moreover,  brought  an  amanuensis  along  with  me 
here,  because  the  physicians  condemn  me  to  total  inaction. 
These  wretched  men,  upon  whose  constancy  you  counted,  have 
either  by  their  fickleness  fallen  off  to  a  foul  apostasy,  or  have 
yielded  to  a  weakness  unworthy  of  Christian  men.  It  is  not 
your  business  to  be  answerable  for  their  fault.'  I  wish  some 
one  had  been  sent  by  you  to  the  meeting  of  the  princes.  But 
our  two  deputies  will  make  up,  by  their  address,  for  anything 
that  is  deficient. 

Farewell,  most  worthy  brother  and  faithful  servant  of  Christ. 
JMay  the  Lord  always  stand  by  you,  govern  and  protect  you, 
and  bless  all  your  pious  labours — Amen.  Salute  very  carefully 
your  colleagues,  I  add  no  salutation  from  my  fellow-pastors, 
because  I  write  to  you  in  the  name  of  them  all.  From  the 
chalet  of  my  brother,^  where  he  himself  as  my  host,  M.  M. 
Villemongis,  Normandie,  and  Varennes,  have  just  supped  with 
me.     All  of  them  desire  to  bo  kindly  remembered  to  you. — 

Yours  truly, 

Chables  Passelius. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Lihrai-y  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107,  h.] 

•  See  Vol.  Ill,  p.  390,  Note  1.  *  At  Tussy,  near  Geneva. 


432  MACAR.  [1558. 


XV.— To  Macar.' 

Community  of  sufferings  between  the  churches  of  Paris  and  Geneva — Hope  of  better 

days. 

Geneva. 

My  brother,  my  dearest  brother,  if  exempt  from  all  fear  and 
anxiety,  I  should  urge  you  and  your  colleagues  to  meet  the 
struggles  which  now  threaten  you,  such  enormous  garrulity 
would  deservedly  appear  contemptible,  nay,  disgusting  in  your 
eyes.  But  now,  while  I  am  myself  anxious  and  trembling  at 
your  dangers,  if  I  exhort  you  to  confidence  and  constancy,  this 
letter  of  mine  which  will  be  the  lively  portraiture  of  my  heart, 
and  reflect  all  its  most  intimate  feelings,  will  aff"ect  you,  I  trust, 
as  if  I  were  present  among  you,  and  the  sharer  of  all  your  in- 
quietudes. And  assuredly,  should  matters  come  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity, I  had  much  rather  be  joined  with  you  in  death,  than 
survive  to  bewail  so  great  a  calamity  to  the  church.  But  what- 
ever fall  out,  you  know  full  well  from  the  precept  of  our 
heavenly  Master,  though  I  should  say  nothing,  that  you  ought 
to  sufier  death  a  hundred  times  rather  than  timidly  desert  the 
post  in  which  you  have  been  stationed.  I  too  feel  horrified  at 
the  reproach  of  sedition,  with  which  wicked  men  attempt  not 
only  to  blacken  your  character,  but  also  to  defame  the  sacred 
gospel  of  Christ.  But  as  you  are  perfectly  conscious  that  you 
are  falsely  charged  with  the  odium  of  such  a  crime,  strong  in 

« Without  date  :  April,  1558. 

The  correspondence  of  Macar  with  Calvin  gives  us  an  insight  into  the  daily  trials 
and  perils  of  the  Church  of  Paris  at  this  period.  In  spite  of  the  confession  presented 
to  Henry  II.,  as  an  answer  to  the  calumnies  of  their  adversaries,  the  Protestants  of 
Paris  were  persecuted  with  unrelenting  severity.  We  remark  the  following  words  in 
one  of  Macar's  letters  to  Calvin  :  "  Pharaoh  breathes  nothing  but  destruction,  should 
God  once  grant  him  repose.  We  are  groaning,  and  yet  we  labour  to  the  best  of  our 
strength.  We  have  already  begun  to  preach  among  the  willows,  since  the  rage  and 
vigilance  of  the  enemy  no  longer  permit  us  to  assemble  in  the  city."  Macar  himself 
too  much  exposed  to  the  fury  of  his  enemies,  was  obliged  to  return  to  Geneva  before 
the  end  of  the  year,  leaving  his  place  to  Fra-i^ois  Morel.  (Library  of  Geneva,  Vol. 
112,  passim.) 


1558.]  MACAR.  433 

the  testimony  of  your  innocence,  you  should  feel  it  to  be  your 
duty  to  endure   this   calumny  with   a  patient  and  undisturbed 
mind — a  calumny  from  which  not  even  the  Son  of  God  could 
escape.     It  is   consoling  that  even   if  you  should  hold  your 
tongues,  the  truth  which  will  speedily  burst  forth  from  the  ob- 
scurity in  which  it  is  now  enveloped,  will  dissipate  this  calumny 
of  your  enemies.     For  when  three  days  shall  have  elapsed,  the 
rumour  will  fall  to  the  ground  of  itself,  and  the  authors  of  it 
will  be  reduced  to  silence  from  very  shame.     No  doubt  the 
devil,  as  he  is   the  father  and   the  artificer  of  all  lies,  will  put 
forth  all  his  strength  to  overwhelm  you  with  odium  and  disgrace. 
He  will  not,  for  all  that,  gain  anything  by  his  devices,  but  on  the 
contrary,  God,  by  this  distinguished  and  memorable  conflict,  will 
illustrate  his  own  name,  and  out  of  darkness  will  cause  to  shine 
the  full  effulgence  of  his  glory.     No  free  and  unsophisticated 
confession  had  ever  reached  the  ears  of  the  king.'     If  the  last 
things  correspond  to  the  first  (which  we  have  reason  to*  hope,) 
this  blood-red  lion  will  grow  pale,  believe  me  a  hundred  times. 
If  among  the  flock  there  shall  be  much  trepidation,  let  it  not 
disturb  you,  but  do  you  rather  calmly  not  less  than  vigorously 
provide  remedies  against  its  dispersion.     Perhaps,  contrary  to 
expectation,  some  mitigation  of  your  trials  will  ere  long  present 
itself.     But  should  it  happen  that  your  patience  is  to  be  put  to 
a   still   more   severe   proof,  since  such   is  the   decree  of  your 
heavenly  Father,  let  this  remain  graven  on  your  hearts,  that  he 
is  faithful  who  will  not  suftcr  his  children  to  be  tempted  beyond 
what  they  can  endure. 

Farewell,  beloved  brother.     May  the  Lord  stand  by  you,  and 
support  you  with  his  invincible  fortitude. — Yours, 

Charles  Passelius. 
[Lat.  Copy. — Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107,  b.] 

•See  Vol.  III.  p.  372. 

55 


434  AN   HISTORICAL    CALUMNY. 


An  Historical  Calumny  Refuted. 

[We  read  in  the  Nouveaux  Memoires  of  the  Abb^  d'Artigny, 
vol.  iii,  pp.  313-316:  "An  able  Jesuit  very  fond  of  literary 
anecdotes  has  communicated  to  me  the  two  following  letters,  the 
originals  of  which  the  Marquis  du  Poet  preserves  with  great 
care  .  .  .  These  two  letters  in  which  the  patriarch  of  the 
pretended  Reformed,  has  painted  himself  to  the  life,  do  him  so 
little  honour  that  no  efforts  have  been  spared  to  get  them  out 
of  M.  du  Poet's  hands,  with  such  pertinacity  indeed  that  a 
minister  of  the  Cevennes  having  asked  to  read  them  wished  to 
take  forcible  possession  of  them,  which  gave  rise  to  a  rather 
animated  scene,  the  consequences  of  which,  as  may  well  be 
imagined,  were  not  to  the  advantage  of  the  preacher." 

Such  is  the  first  mention  slightly  embellished  of  the  two 
famous  letters  which,  published  in  1750  by  the  Abbd  d'Artigny, 
were  about  to  furnish  Voltaire  with  a  sarcasm,  and  commence 
their  career  of  scandal  in  a  celebrated  chapter  of  the  Essai  sur 
les  Moeurs.  "The  last  feature  in  the  portrait  of  Calvin  may 
be  taken  from  a  letter  in  his  own  handwriting,  which  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  Chateau  of  La  Bastie-Roland  near  Montelimart. 
It  is  addressed  to  the  Marquis  du  Poet,  Grand  Chamberlain  of 
the  Queen  of  Navarre,  and  dated  the  30th  September,  1561 : 
'Honour,  glory,  and  riches  will  be  the  reward  of  your  pains. 
Above  all  do  not  fail  to  rid  the  country  of  all  those  zealous 
scoundrels  that  stir  up  the  people  to  make  head  against  us. 
Such  monsters  should  be  smothered,  as  I  have  done  here  by 
Michel  Servetus  the  Spaniard.'  "  ' 

Too  circumspect  to  reproduce  the  sorry  trash  of  the  letters 
signalized  by  the  able  Jesuit,  and  accepted  without  examination 
by  the  Abbd  d'Artigny,  but  too  partial  to  discuss  their  value, 
Voltaire  confined  himself  to  a  quotation,  and  flung  as  a  challenge 
to  the  Reform  a  phrase  in  the  handwriting  of  Calvin,  containing 

'  Essai  sur  les  Moeurs,  C.  i.  34. 


AN   HISTORICAL   CALUMNY.  4P,F, 

an  atrocious  exhortation  to  murder,  enveloped  in  a  cruel  alliipion 
to  the  death  of  Servetus.' 

This  was  but  the  prelude  to  the  fortune  reserved  for  the  two 
documents  of  which  the  singular  destiny  has  been  to  serve  the 
rancour  of  the  philosophical  spirit  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
against  the  religious  spirit  of  the  sixteenth,  and  the  hatred  of  a 
school  which  does  not  shrink,  we  know,  from  a  defence  of  the  In- 
quisition and  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  but  which  piously 
veils  its  face  before  the  funeral-pile  of  Servetus,  and  the  incon- 
sistent rigour  of  the  Reform  at  Geneva.  The  letters  to  M.  du 
Poet  were  destined  to  furnish  ample  matter  for  the  declamations 
of  a  party,  not  very  scrupulous  in  the  choice  of  its  arms  against 
heresy.  It  has  not  failed  to  lay  hold  of  them.  Let  us  content 
ourselves  with  recalling  to  mind  that  we  find  them  invariably 
quoted  in  a  great  number  of  writings  of  Catholic  controversy, 
from  d'Artigny  and  Bergier,'^  down  to  the  Abb^  Amodru;^  that 
they  have  obtained  the  honours  of  a  double  mention  in  Audin,'* 
and  a  little  insertion  in  one  of  the  most  vaunted  works  of  M. 
Capefigue.^  Let  us  add  in  fine  that  a  writer  of  Dauphiny,  M. 
Aubenas,  has  renewed  the  accusation "  reproduced  by  a  learned 
historian,  M.  Lavall^e,''  who  does  not  hesitate  to  condemn  Calvin 
on  the  faith  of  Yoltaire. 

'  It  is  the  same  tactics  which  make  Catholic  writers  invariably  quote  a  pretended 
phrase  of  Calvin's  of  which  there  exists  not  the  slightest  trace  in  his  writings.  The 
point  in  question  is  nothing  less  than  the  extermination  of  the  Jesuits:  "  Jemitct  vera 
qui  ae  nobis  opponunt  aut  necandi,  aid  ni  hoc  commode  fieri  non  potest  ejiciendi,  aut 
certe  mendaciis  et  calumniis  opprimendi  sunt."  "  But  the  Jesuits  who  oppose  us  are  to 
be  massacred,  or  if  this  cannot  be  conveniently  accomplished,  to  be  banished,  or  at 
any  rate  crushed  by  falsehoods  and  calumnies."  Now  this  passage  quoted  bj'  .\lz05, 
Universal  Geschichte  der  Christlichen  Kirche,  Edit,  of  1840,  p.  913,  commented  on  l)y 
Audin,  Hist,  de  Calvin,  vol.  ii.  p.  434,  and  reproduced  in  innumerable  libels,  is  the 
work  of  the  R.  P.  Jesuit  Martinus  Becanus,  who  in  his  aphorisms  (Opera,  Mayence, 
1649,  p.  855)  ironically  gives  to  his  adversaries  the  most  convenient  receipt  for  crusli- 
ing  the  disciples  of  Loyola,  and  it  is  Becanus'  phrase  (could  it  be  believed?)  that  is 
charitably  attributed  to  Calvin.  Thus  it  is  that  history  is  written  I  See  on  this  sub- 
ject the  caustic  dissertation  of  M.  A.  Reville,  Bulletin  de  la  societi  d'Hiitoire  du  Pro- 
testantisme  Frayirais,  vol.  iii.  pp.  150,  153. 

"  Dictionnaire  Thiologique,  i.  241. 

^  La  veriti  proposie  aux  Catholiques  et  aux  Protestants.     Valence,  1847,  in  ISmo. 

*  Vie  de  Calvin,  ii.  179,  434,  435. 

"  Histoire  de  la  Reforme,  ii.  34,  35. 

'Notice  Ilistnrique  sur  la  ville  et  le  Canton  de  Valreas,  156,  157. 

^Histoire  des  Franrais,  ii.  362. 


436  AN   HISTORICAL   CALUMNY. 

Such  is  the  history  of  these  letters  which,  quoted  with  the 
most  unshaken  assurance  for  more  than  a  century,  have  acquired 
in  passing  from  mouth  to  mouth,  a  mysterious  authority  which 
seems  placed  beyond  dispute  and  doubt.  Thus  spring  up  and 
are  propagated  at  the  pleasure  of  passions  interested  in  spread- 
ing them,  those  falsehoods  consecrated  by  time,  which  cannot 
brook,  however,  the  slightest  examination,  and  yet  of  which  the 
most  palpable  refutations  can  scarcely  shake  the  empire.  It  is 
one  of  those  pious  frauds  which  we  now  attempt  to  unmask  for 
the  first  time. 

Among  the  seigneurs  who  embraced  with  the  greatest  ardour 
the  cause  of  the  Reform  in  Dauphiny,  in  the  second  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  we  must  reckon  Louis  de  Marcel,  Seigneur 
of  Barry,  Mornans,  Saou,  Baron  du  Poet  near  Montelimart.  He 
united  his  exertions  to  those  of  the  principal  noblemen  of  the 
country,  Monbrun,  Blacons,  and  Mirabel,  to  obtain  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  vied  with  them  in  bravery  for  the  defence  of 
Lyons  against  the  Catholic  army.'  He  took  part  in  the  battles 
of  Jarnac  and  Montcontour,  and  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  King 
of  Navarre  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  civil  wars.  His 
services  were  not  forgotten,  and  when  the  cause,  for  which  he  had 
valiantly  combatted,  became  triumphant,  he  was  named  succes- 
sively Chamberlain  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  councillor  of  state, 
Governor  of  Montelimart,  and  lieutenant  general  of  the  Marquisate 
of  Saluces,  1593.^  We  see  already  by  these  details  that  the  import- 
ance of  the  Baron  du  Poet  as  a  chief  of  the  Calvinist  party  is  much 
posterior  to  the  death  of  Calvin.  But  he  had  declared  for  the 
Reformation  before  this  period,  and  must  have  kept  up  with  the 
Reformer  an  intercourse,  of  which  we  think  we  find  the  traces  in 
a  letter  addressed  "to  a  Baron  of  Dauphiny."  This  intercourse 
is  attested  besides  by  a  tradition  generally  disseminated  in  the 
southern  part  of  Dauphiny,  and  of  which  it  is  impossible  not  to 
recognize  the  value.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this  tradition  that 
must  have  arisen  and  gained  credit  in  the  district,  the  false 
letters  fraudulently  inserted  in  the  archives  of  the  family  of  du 

'  D'Aubigue,  Hist.  Univ.,  vol.  i.  p.  247. 

"D'Aubignfe,  vol.  ii.  pp.  455  et  1140.     Aubenas,  Notice  already  quoted. 


AN   HISTORICAL   CALUMNY.  437 

Poet — at  what  period  and  by  what  hands?  Of  that  we  are 
ignorant. 

Need  we  say  that  a  simple  perusal  of  these  letters  in  the 
memoirs  of  the  Abb^  d'Artigny  had  inspired  us  with  invincible 
doubts  of  their  authenticity?  But  these  doubts  equivalent  to  a 
moral  certainty  could  only  acquire  a  scientific  certainty  by  an 
examination  of  the  documents  themselves.  No  pains  were  to  be 
spared  by  us  to  obtain  such  a  result.  The  archives  of  the  family 
of  du  Poet,  long  preserved  in  the  seignorial  manor  of  du  Poet- 
Ceylar  near  Dieulefit,  transported  at  a  later  period  to  the 
chateau  of  la  Bastie-Roland,  had  at  length  fallen  by  inheritance 
to  the  Marquis  d'Alissac  de  Valreas,  whose  kindness  has  per- 
mitted us  freely  to  consult  the  correspondences  which  illustrious 
successions  have  accumulated  in  his  hands.'  Among  all  the 
documents  which  compose  this  family  inheritance,  among  which 
we  remark  the  distinguished  names  of  Montmorency,  Cond(5, 
Chatillon,  Lesdiguieres,  Henry  IV.,  etc.,  two,  the  reader  will 
easily  conceive,  almost  exclusively  attracted  our  attention.  The 
simple  inspection  of  them  was  sufficient  to  confirm  all  our  doubts, 
and  demonstrate  with  an  evidence  not  to  be  resisted  the  spurious- 
ness  of  these  letters. 

The  proofs  in  confirmation  of  this  conclusion  are  so  numerous, 
that  our  only  embarrassment  would  be  to  examine  them.  We 
must  content  ourselves  with  a  summary  enumeration  of  them. 

1st.  These  originals,  written  by  Calvin's  own  hand  (as  Voltaire 
affirms),  are  anything  but  autographs.  They  are  neither  in  the 
handwriting  of  Calvin,  nor  in  that  of  Jonvillcrs  his  secretary, 
nor  of  Antony  Calvin,  who  sometimes  held  the  pen  under  the 
dictation  of  the  Reformer  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life. 

2nd.  If  these  pieces  are  not  in  the  handwriting  of  Calvin, 
still  less  do  we  find  in  them  his  style,  admired  by  Bossuet  him- 
self and  one  of  the  finest  in  our  language.  That  style  is  con- 
cise, nervous,  and  dignified,  bearing  the  impress  of  a  strong  in- 
dividuality more  easy  to  caricature  than  to  imitate. 

3d.  From  the  form  let  us  pass  to  the  substance.     The  two 

'  M.  d'Alissac,  at  the  moment  we  write  these  lines,  is  no  more ;  but  our  gratitude 
and  respect  remain  due  to  his  memory  for  the  courtesy  with  which  he  facilitated  our 
researches. 


438  AN   HISTORICAL   CALUMNY. 

letters  swarm  with  mistakes  and  historical  blunders  which  betray 
the  work  of  an  unskilful  forger.  The  first,  dated  the  8th  May, 
1547,  and  addressed  to  M.  du  Poet,  General  of  the  Religion  in 
Dauphiny,  bestows  this  title  on  this  seigneur,  fifteen  years  be- 
fore the  period  in  which  he  declared  for  the  Reformation,  and 
■when  the  new  faith,  having  neither  church  nor  soldier  in 
Dauphiny,  could  scarcely  enumerate  some  obscure  martyrs  in 
that  province.  The  second,  dated  the  13th  September,  1561, 
has  for  superscription — to  M.  du  Poet,  grand  chamberlain  of 
Navarre  and  Governor  of  Montelimart,  dignities  with  which  he 
was  invested  only  twenty  years  later,  in  1584.  It  is  one  of 
Calvin's  accusers,  M.  Aubenas  himself,  who  informs  us  of  that, 
without  remarking  that  the  notice  which  he  has  devoted  to  M. 
du  Poet  is  the  best  refutation  of  the  authenticity  of  the  letters 
attributed  to  the  Reformer. 

We  should  have  but  too  easy  a  task  in  pursuing  in  detail  the 
analysis  of  these  letters.  But  how  is  it  possible  to  go  through 
with  it  ?  How  take  up  one  by  one  the  errors,  the  improbabili- 
ties, the  nonsense,  the  enormities  of  every  sort  accumulated  as 
if  on  purpose  in  these  pages,  in  which  the  absurd  vies  with  the 
odious,  in  which  men  and  things  are  so  sillily  travestied,  in 
which  the  grand  and  holy  revolution  of  the  sixteenth  century  is 
represented  by  a  shameless  scribbler  as  a  coarse  farce  played 
by  impudent  mountebanks!  Here  the  pen  drops  from  our 
hands !  When  anonymous  calumny  dares  to  attack  by  abject 
defamation  the  most  venerated  names,  it  deserves  not  the  honour 
of  a  reply;  to  confound  it,  it  is  enough  to  show  it  up  in  open 
day.  To  quote  these  pretended  letters  of  Calvin's  to  M.  du 
Poet  is  to  refute  them  !J 


XVI. To    MONSEIGNEUR,  MONSEIGNEUR    DU    POET,    GENERAL 

OF  Religion  in  Dauphiny. 

MONSEIGNEUR : — Who  can  resist  your  attack?  The  Eternal 
protects  you,  the  people  loves  you,  the  great  fear  you,  the  most 
distant  regions  resound  with  your  acts  of  prowess.     Heaven  has 


AN    HISTORICAL    CALUMNY.  439 

raised  3'ou  up  to  establish  in  your  countries  its  church.  There 
remains  for  you  but  to  receive  the  crown  of  glory  which  you  de- 
sire. For  the  rest,  Monseigneur,  you  have  apparently  heard 
of  the  progress  of  religion  in  our  countries.  The  gospel  is 
preached  in  our  cities  as  well  as  in  our  valleys.  People  flock 
from  all  quarters  to  receive  the  yoke.  In  the  missions  there 
has  been  great  fruit,  and  folks  have  gained  no  small  riches. 
The  Apostles  never  laboured  with  so  much  fruit,  and  if  the 
Papists  dispute  the  truth  of  our  religion  and  whether  it  will  last, 
they  cannot  dispute  its  riches.  You  alone  labour  without  ceasing 
and  without  interest.  Do  not  by  any  means  neglect  the  increase 
of  your  means.  A  time  will  come  in  which  you  alone  shall  have 
acquired  nothing  by  these  new  changes.  Every  one  should 
think  of  his  own  interest;  I  alone  have  neglected  mine,  of  which 
I  greatly  repent  me.  Thus  those  to  whom  I  have  furnishecT the 
means  of  acquiring  wealth  will  take  care  of  my  old  age  which  is 
unprovided  for.  You  on  the  contrary,  Monseigneur,  who  leave 
behind  you  a  valiant  lineage  to  support  the  little  flock,  do  not 
leave  them  without  great  and  powerful  means  without  which  good 
will  would  be  useless.  The  Queen  of  Navarre  has  well  fortified 
our  religion  in  Beam.  The  Papists  have  been  entirely  expelled 
from  it.  In  Languedoc  many  an  assembly  has  been  held  re- 
specting our  faith.  In  time  shall  be  heard  everywhere  the  praises 
of  the  Eternal.  I  pray  the  Creator  to  preserve  you  for  his  service, 
and  for  me — to  furnish  me  with  an  opportunity  of  testifying  to 
you  how  much  I  desire  the  quality  of, 
Monseigneur, 

Your  very  humble  and  affectionate  servant, 

J.  Calvin. 

At  Geneva,  this  Sth  May,  1547. 


XVII. — To  Monseigneur,  Monseigneur  du  Poet,  Grand 
Chamberlain  of  Navarre  and  Governor  of  the  town 
of  Montelimart,  at  Crest. 

Monseigneur  : — What  have  you  judged  of  the  Colloquy  of 
Poissy  ?     We  have  conducted  our  business  safely.     The  Bishop 


440  AN   HISTORICAL   CALUMNY. 

of  Valence  as  well  as  the  others  have  signed  our  profession  of 
faith.  Let  the  king  make  processions  as  much  as  he  pleases, 
he  will  not  be  able  to  hinder  the  preaching  of  our  faith,  harangues 
in  public,  nor  gain  anything  except  to  stir  up  the  people  already 
too  disposed  for  rebellion.  The  brave  Seigneurs  de  Montbrun 
and  de  Beaumont  abandon  their  opinions.  You  spare  neither 
courses,  nor  cares;  labour,  you  and  yours  will  find  their  turn 
(sic).  One  day,  honour,  glory,  and  riches  will  be  the  reward  of 
so  much  pains.  Above  all,  do  not  fail  to  rid  the  country  of  all 
those  zealous  scoundrels  that  stir  up  the  people  by  their  dis- 
courses to  make  head  against  us,  blacken  our  conduct,  and  wish 
to  make  our  belief  pass  for  a  reverie.  Such  monsters  should  be 
smothered,  as  I  have  done  here,  by  the  execution  of  Michel 
Servetus  the  Spaniard.  Do  not  imagine  that  in  future  any  one 
will  take  it  into  his  head  to  do  the  like. 

For  the  rest,  Monseigneur,  I  forgot  the  subject  for  which  I 
did  myself  the  honour  to  write  to  you,  which  is  humbly  to  kiss 
your  hands,  supplicating  you  to  take  in  good  part  the  qualjty 
which  I  shall  covet  during  my  w'hole  life  of  .  .  . 

Monseigneur, 

Your  very  humble  and  affectionate  servant, 

J.  Calvin. 

At  Gfeneva,  this  Sth  September,  1561. 

[Fr.  Copy. — Arch,  of  M.  le  Marquis  cVAlksac  a  Valreas.'] 

[Besides  the  authors  which  we  have  just  quoted,  these 
two  pieces  have  been  triumphantly  reproduced  by  M.  Cr^ti- 
neau  Joly  [ffistoire  des  Jesuites,  T.  I.  pp.  421,  422,)  and 
in  an  ironical  pamphlet :  Les  Protestants  deboutes  de  leurs  pre- 
tentions. Brussels,  1776.  These  pretended  letters  will  always 
find,  in  spite  of  our  refutations,  authors  complaisant  enough  to 
invoke  their  authority ;  "  for  there  are  too  many  people  that 
have  an  interest  in  keeping  up  stories  that  please  them."  This 
remark  of  Bayle  is,  unfortunately,  quite  as  apposite  now  as 
ever,  and  we  do  not  flatter  ourselves  that  we  shall  take  any 
thing  from  its  applicability.  Let  the  reader,  however,  compare 
these  two  pieces,  the  work  of  an  impudent  forger,  who  has  not 
even  given  himself  the  trouble  to  save  appearances,  with  the  fol- 


AN  HISTORICAL  CALUMNY.  441 

lowing  letter  written  by  Calvin  to  a  Baron  of  Dauphiny,  perhaps 
to  M.  du  Poet  himself,  and  he  will  see  the  distance  which 
separates  the  language  of  calumny  from  the  austere  effusions 
of  our  Reformer.  He  will  recognize  Calvin  by  that  inimit- 
able accent,  which  his  whole  correspondence  breathes,  and 
which  not  even  the  most  adroit  Jesuit  can  catch.  Ex  ungue 
leonem  I^ 


XVIII.  To  A  Baron  op  Dauphiny. 

Genkva,  8th  July,  1563. 

Monsieur,  Your  letter  and  the  account  which  the  bearer  of  it 
gave  me  of  your  state,  have  afforded  me  ample  matter  of  re- 
joicing, and  of  glorifying  God  for  the  change  he  has  wrought  in 
you,  when  of  his  infinite  will  he  has  brought  you  into  his  flock, 
from  which  you  had  hitherto  kept  yourself  so  far  aloof.  In 
that,  we  see  how  he  formerly  created  the  world  out  of  nothing. 
For  in  like  manner,  when  it  is  his  good  pleasure  to  bring  us 
back  to  himself,  it  is  as  if  he  were  to  form  new  creatures.  Nay, 
he  even  displays  a  double  portion  of  his  energy,  quelling  the 
rebellion  by  which  we  resist  his  grace,  as  much  as  in  us  lies,  just 
as  he  has  reduced  you  to  obedience  to  his  truth,  of  which  you 
were  an  enemy,  in  order  that,  knowing  yourself  to  be  his  by  a 
two-fold  title,  you  should  be  stirred  up  to  consecrate  yourself 
entirely  to  him,  as  you  are  in  duty  bound.  And  it  is  for  that 
reason  that  by  the  mouth  of  his  prophet  Isaiah,  he  magnifies 
his  compassion,  saying  that  he  has  been  found  of  those  who 
sought  him  not ;  and  that  he  has  declared  himself  to  those  that 
did  not  seek  after  him ;  saying,  also.  Here  I  am,  to  those  that 
had  not  known  him.  Since  then  he  has  withdrawn  you  from 
the  fathomless  pit  in  which  you  were  plunged ;  what  remains. 
Monsieur,  is  not  only  that  you  do  him  honour  and  homage  for 
so  great  a  benefit,  but  also  that  you  strive  to  acquit  yourself  of 
your  arrears,  putting  forth  a  zeal  in  pursuing  your  course,  so 
much  the  more  ardent  as  you  have  entered  upon  it  too  late. 
If  from  our  childhood  we  had  battled  manfully  and  done 
marvels,  St.  Paul  tells  us,  that  still  we  ought  not  at  all  to  look 
56 


442  AN   HISTORICAL   CALUMNY. 

at  the  past,  for  fear  of  being  cooled  or  retarded  for  the  future. 
But  when  we  have  been  long  unserviceable,  and  even  opposed 
to  the  holy  will  of  God,  the  recollection  of  our  past  faults 
should  stimulate  us  to  put  forth  our  strength  more  and  more. 
And  I  perceive,  Monsieur,  that  God  has  effectually  wrought  in 
you,  not  only  to  make  you  receive  the  doctrine  of  salvation,  but 
also  to  give  you  courage  to  labour,  that  your  subjects  should 
follow  your  example  and  keep  you  company  in  serving  Him,  to 
whom  belongs  the  sovereign  empire  of  heaven  and  earth.  In 
which  office  I  will  aid  you  as  far  as  shall  be  in  my  power,  as 
will  also  my  brethren  and  companions,  nor  is  there  a  single  in- 
dividual who  does  not  desire  to  bestir  himself  to  render  you 
service.  We  will  then  look  out  for  what  means  we  may  find 
for  sending  to  you  apt  and  sufficient  men,  in  order  that  Jesus 
Christ  may  bear  peaceful  rule  in  the  country  where  he  has  given 
you  preeminence.  Only  take  courage.  Monsieur,  to  persevere, 
as  you  have  so  well  begun ;  and  as  God  has  raised  you  to  a  post 
of  honour,  may  yoii  set  an  example  to  all. 

Whereupon,  Monsieur,  having  humbly  commended  myself  to 
your  indulgent  favour,  I  will  supplicate  our  Heavenly  Father  to 
have  you  in  his  holy  keeping,  to  strengthen  you  by  his  power, 
and  increase  you  in  all  good  and  prosperity. 
[Fr.  Copy.     Library  of  Geneva.     Vol.  107.1 


INDEX. 


Abbess  admonished,  ii.  229. 

Abdication   of  Eeatus   Gering  approved, 

iii.  330. 
Abolition  of  Catholic  Ceremonies  at  Stras- 
bourg, longed  for,  iii.  328. 
of  Romish  Worship  at  Orbe.  iii.  25. 
"  at  Montagny,  iii.  25. 

"  at  Grandson,  iii.  25. 

Abraham,  Tragedy  of,  by  lieza,  ii.  373. 
Absolute  power  of  life  and  death  granted 

in  France  to  the  Bishops,  iii.  412. 
Abuses,  how  to  be  dealt  with,  ii.  192. 

in  England,  ii.  302. 
Academy  at  Geneva,  iv.  21. 
Accession  of  Mary  drives  Protestants  out 

of  England,  ii.  439. 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  a  play  at  Geneva, 

ii.  61. 
Accusation  replied  to,  iii.  280. 
Address  of  D'Audelot   to  Uenry  II.  of 

France,  iii.  418. 
Admonition    to    Melanchthon    enjoining 
firmness,  iii.  335. 
to  flee  from  persecution  and  idolatry, 

ii.  450. 
to  firmness,  to  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara, 
iii.  187. 
Adrets,  Baron  Des,  a  Protestant  leader, 

iv.  272,  284. 
Advice  to  Church  at  Frankfort,  iii.  65. 
to  Farel,  i.  103. 

to  parties  in  the  Foreign  Church  at 
Franljfort,  iii.  191. 
Affairs,  state  of,  in  Geneva,  ii.  153. 
in  Germany  and  Italy,  ii.  143. 
Affection  of  Calvin  for  Farel  and  Viret, 
ii.  395. 
of  Calvin  for  Melanchthon,  i.  373. 
for  the  Ministers  of  Strasbourg,  iii. 
116. 
Affray  in  Paris,  iii.  444. 
Aggravation  of  differences  between  Berne 
and  Geneva  on  the  subject  of  refu- 
gees, iii.  309. 
Agreement  between  Churches  of  Zurich 

and  Geneva,  ii.  235. 
Aid  to  refugees  in  Switzerland,  ii.  448. 
Aigle,  i.  52. 

Aix,  Church  of,  admonished  to  bear  up 
under  persecution,  iv.  186. 
sketch  of,  iv.  186. 
disorders  at,  iv.  262. 
Parliament  of,  i.  469. 
Alba,  Duke  of,  iv.  26. 
Alberg,  conduct  of,  i.  317-319. 


Albert  of  Brandenbourg,  i.  123. 

Albert's,   D'Jane,  estimation   of  her  son 

the  Prince  of  Beam,  iv.  36. 
Alciat  of  Bourges,  i.  25. 

Andrew  of  Milan,  i.  411. 
Alexandre,  Peter,  deposed  from  the  minis- 
try, iii.  485. 
of  Thonon,  i.  159. 
Alliance  between  Henry  VIII.  and  Ger- 
man Princes  proposed,  i.  161. 
of  Cantons  with  France  renewed,  ii. 

175. 
with  France  rejected  by  Zurich  and 
Berne,  ii.  230. 
Amanuensis,    Calvin    writes    by    an,    to 

Duchess  of  Ferrara,  iv.  360. 
Ambassadors  to  Berne,  (Chauvetand  Cal- 
vin,) iii.  161. 
Amboise,  conspiracy  of,  iv.  104,  106,  175. 
treaty  of,  iv.  279. 
strictures  on,  iv.  298. 
Amsdorf,  Nichohis,  ii.  234. 
Anne  of  Cleves,  i.  165. 
Anabaptist  doctrines  at  Frankfort  and  in 

Germany,  iv.  21. 
Andelot,  M.  d',  prisoner  at  Melun,  con- 
gratulated   on    his    constancy,  iii. 
418. 
sketch  of,  iii.  418. 
Andr6,  Dr  James,  Professor  of  Theology 

at  Tubingen,  iii.  302. 
Andrews  St.,  James  Stuart,  Prior  of,  iv. 

200. 
Anduze,  M.  d',  Minister  at  Nimes,  iv.  199. 
Angers,  account  of,  iii.  225. 

counsels  to  the  persecuted  in,  iii.  261. 
Angtcan  Liturgy,  iii.  118, 

criticised   in   a  letter   to    Knox,  iii. 
189. 
Angouleme,  Calvin  returns  to,  i.  41. 
Answers  to  questions  by  John  Knox,  iii.37. 
Answer  of  the  Swiss   Churches   to    The 
ConaensuH,  iii.  186. 
to  a  demand  of  the  Diet  of  Baden,  iii. 

296. 
of  English    Exiles  at   Frankfort  to 
Calvin,  iii.  119. 
Antidote,  The,  publication  of,  ii.  152. 
Antitrinitarianism  of  Ochino  recognized, 

iii.  2fi0. 
Antwerp,  apologies  to  the  Church  of,  iii. 
302. 
historical    notice   of  Church   in,  iii. 
302. 
Anxiety  regarding  the  cli inches  in  Ger- 
many, ii.  lOS. 

443 


444 


INDEX. 


Anxieties  about  affairs  in  England,  ii.  426. 
for  renewal  of  alliance  with  Berne, 
iii.  239. 
for  safety  of  Geneva,  iv.  193. 
Apathy  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  i.  147. 
Apologies,  i.  337. 
Apoloyy,  The,  editing  of,  ii.  47. 

instructions  concerning,  ii.  100. 
dedicated,  ii.  141. 
cost  of  printing,  iii.  158. 
Apologies  for  Viret,  ii.  79. 
Apology  for  differing  from  Luther,  iii.  153. 
to  the  Elector  Palatine,  for  the  French 

Protestants,  iii.  405. 
for  silence,  to  the  suffering  at  Paris, 

iv.  18. 
for  Bucer,  iv.  403. 
to  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  iv.  121. 
Apologies  of  Calvin  for  himself,  iv.  416. 
Apostacy  of  Duchess  of  Ferrara  solicited, 

iii.  50,  88,  129. 
Apostleship  of  Viret  in  France,  iv.  235. 
Appeals  to  the  Seigneurs  of  Zurich,  i.  429. 
Appeal  to  Melanchthon  and  Luther,  i.  435. 
to  Zurich  against  Calvin's  views  of 

discipline,  ii.  440. 
to  the  memory  of  Luther  Capito  and 

Bucer,  iii.  56. 
to  German  Princes  on  behalf  of  the 
French  Protestants,  iii.  409. 
Approach  of  Turkish  fleet,  iv.  174. 
Appendix,  iv.  3S1. 
Approbation  of  God  to  be  preferred  to  that 

of  man,  iii.  219. 
Approval   of  choice  of  new  minister    at 
Frankfort,  iii.  305. 
of  the  Confession  of  the  Waldenses, 
iii.  333. 
Arau,  Diet  of,  favor  the  persecuted  Pro- 
testants, i.460. 
Arguments  addressed  to  D'Andelot  to  sus- 
tain him  in  captivity,  iii.  437. 
Armagnac,  Jacques  d',  Duke  of  Nemours, 

the  enemy  of  Coligny,  iv.  203. 
Arran,  Earl  of,  eulogium  on  his  a^ch- 
ment  to  the  gospel  and  his  zeal  in 
spreading  it,  iii.  453. 
sketch  of,  iii.  453. 
Arrangements  for  return  to  Geneva,  i.  394. 
Arrangement  of  dispute,  Berne  and  Ge- 
neva, i.  405 . 
Arrest  in  France  of  a  Minister  from  Neu- 
chatel,  ii.318. 
of  Servetus  at  the  instigation  of  Cal- 
vin, ii.  428. 
Arrival    in    Geneva   expected    of    M.  De 
Falais,  ii.  103. 
of  King  of  Navarre  at  Court,  iv.  151. 
at  Poissy,  of  delegates,  iv.  223. 
Articles  of  the  Reformed  Faith,  ii.  253. 
Artifices  of  persecutors,  i.  469. 
Artigny,  Abbe  d',  Letters  in  Memoirs  of, 

iv.434,  437. 
Asia,  troubles  in,  safety  of  Hungary  from 
the  Turks,  i.  257. 


Assault  on  Geneva  threatened,  iii.  202. 

on  Berne  threatened,  iii.  202. 
Assembling  a  Conference  urged  on  Bul- 

linger,  iii.  350. 
Assembly  in  Germany,  i.  165. 

at  Smalkald,  answer  from,  i.  388. 

First  of  French  Protestants,  iv.  38. 
Assurances  of  affection,  ii.  85. 
Attacks  of  Castalio,  i.  418. 

on  Calvin  in  Geneva,  ii.  321. 

on  Calvin  by  Bernese  clergy,  iii.  74, 
Attitude  of  Coligny,  iv.  287. 

of  the  German  Princes,  iii.  285. 
Audacious  act  at  Lyons,  iv.  269. 
Audiu,  M.,  "  L'Histoire  de  Calvin,"  cha- 
racter of,  i.  11. 
Augsburg,  Confession  of,  i.  125,  195, 

and  Conde,  iv.  312. 

efforts   to  introduce  it  into  France, 
iv.  213,  214,  223. 
Augustine,  Calvin  on,  ii.  247. 
Austria  and  Bavaria,  the  gospel  in,  iii. 

268. 
Auvergnese,  their  state,  iv.  236. 

B 

Bad  feeling  at  Strasbourg  after  death  of 

Bucer,  iii.  54. 
Bailiff  of  Berne,  arbitrary  conduct  of,  iii. 

339,  .346. 
Baisius,  Lazarus,  i.  190. 
Bale,  French  church  founded  there,  ii.ll4. 

visited  by  Calvin,  ii.  157. 

Calvin  dissatisfied  with  the  ministers 
of,  ii.  327. 

M.  de  Falais,  ii.  327. 
Banishment  of  Viret,  iv.  26. 
Baptism  of  children  of  excommunicated 
persons,  iv.  74. 

nature  of,  iv.  74. 

of  children,  grounds  of,  iv.  74. 

by  women,  iii.  280,  284. 

explanations  regarding,  iii.  71. 

of  dying  children,  iii.  283. 
Baratier,  i.  32. 
Barbeville,  John,  of  Rouen,  burned  at  the 

stake,  iv.  18. 
Barran,  Henry  de.  Minister  to  the  King 

of  Navarre,  iv.36. 
Barry,  Godfroi  du,  a  conspirator,  iv.  177. 
Bartholomew,  St.,  massacre  of,  i.  5. 
Basis  of  union  proposed,  ii.  168 
Basle,  Calvin  in,  i.  42. 

Academy  of,  i.  63. 

Calvin  to  the  ministers  of,  i.  58, 

Calvin  and  Farel  arrive  at,  i.  69 

Calvin  leaves,  i.  80. 

conferences  at,  i.  89. 
Battle  of  St.  Quentin,  iii.  356. 
Baudouin,  Francois,  i.  7. 

Francis,  of  Arras,  ii.  133. 
Beatification  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv. 

355. 
Bedford,  Earl  of,  Letter  to,  iv.  115. 
Bedrot,  Professor  of  Greek,  i.  157. 


INDEX. 


445 


Believers  in  French  islands,  Letter  to,  ii. 

432. 
Bellay,  William  du,  i.  58,  162. 
character  of,  i.  447. 
viceroy  of  Piedmont,  i.  183. 
John,  sketch  of,  i.  58. 
Berault,  resigns  his  charge,  iv.  21. 
Berger,  Peter,  of  Bar-sur-Seine,  ii.  386. 
BernarJin  de  Sesnaz,  i.  359. 

James,  at  Geneva,  i.  234;  ii.  199. 
Bernardino  at  Zurich,  ii.  109. 
Berne  and  Geneva,  disputes  between,  i. 
228,  278. 
Seigneurs  of,  policy  towards  Geneva, 

ii.2S. 
the  Synod  of,  i.  345. 
Bernese,  policy  of,  i.  72. 

oppose  Farel  and  Calvin,  i.  72. 
entreated  on    behalf  of  the  French 
Protestants,  iv.  275. 
Berthelier   sustained   by  the  Council   of 

state,  ii.  423. 
Beza,  Theodore,  i.  5,  6,  29,  36,  65;   ii, 
248. 
resigns  his  charge,  iv.  21. 
at  Orleans,  iv.288. 
eulogized,  iii.  457. 
mission  to  Worms,  iii.  370. 
Berne,  Calvin  gone  to,  i.  68. 

Calvin  at,  i.  283. 
Besanfon,  gospel  at,  i.  51. 
Betrothal  of  Calvin,  i.  191. 
Bible,  translation  by  Buoer,  ii.  232. 
Bibliander,  Theodore,  Professor  at  Zurich, 

i.  67,  108;  11.403. 
Bishop  of  London,  Letter  to,  iv.  99. 

French    Church    in   London,  recom- 
mended to,  iv.  99. 
Des  Gallars  eulogized  to,  iv.  100. 
recommended  to  seek  purity  in  reli- 
gion, iv.  101. 
of  Rome,  prayers  for,  ii.  362. 
Bishops,  electors,  their  choice,  i.  110. 
Blanchet,  Peter,  dispute  with  Castalio,  i. 
340. 
and  the  plague,  i.  358. 
Blandrata,  George,  a  celebrated  Antitrini- 

tarian,  iii.  442. 
Blaspliemies  of  Gruet,  ii.  268. 
Blaurer,  Ainbroise,  Minister  and  Reformer 
of  Constance,  i.  1^9;  ii.  211,  373. 
his  affection  for  Calvin,  iii.  16. 
presented    by   Calvin   with   different 
works,  iv.  413. 
Blois,  Edict  of,  iv.  81. 
Blood,  The  Bill  of,  i.  161. 
Boasting  of  the  Queen  of  England,  iv.  281. 
Brisnormand,    Francis,    Chaplain    to    the 

King  of  Navarre,  iv.  35. 
Bolsec,  Jerome,  ii.  321,  344. 
and  M.  de  Falais,  ii.  381. 
favored  by  M.  de  Falais,  ii.  328. 
opposed  by  theologians  of  Zurich,  ii. 

328. 
banished,  ii.  331. 


Bolsec  at  Berne,  iii.  77. 

expelled  from  Berne,  iii.  77. 
complaints    against    by   Calvin,    iii. 

169. 
returns  to  Church  of  Rome,  iii.  77. 
Bonnivard,  Francis  de,  i.  404. 
Books,  Calvin's  presents  of,  i.  281. 
Boulogne  beseiged,  ii.  29. 
Bourbon,  Louis  de.  Prince  of  Cond^,  and 

the  Treaty  of  Amboise,  iv.  309. 
Bourdiek,  Captain,  his  energy  in  evange- 
lical labors,  iii.  455. 
Bourses,  their  meaning  and  origin,  ii.  207. 
Bourse  Etrangere  in  Geneva,  origin  of,  ii. 

448. 
Bowes,  Margerv,  first  wife  of  Knox,  death 

of,  iv.  185. 
Brabant  threatened,  i.  392. 
Brandenbourg,  Elector  of,  i.  165. 

Marquis  of,  i.  196. 
Brederode,  lolande  de,  (Madame  de  Fa- 
lais,)!. 399. 
Brentz,  John,  sketch  of,  i.  263. 

and    Laski,  discussion  between,  iii. 
284,  351. 
Bretschneider,  Professor,  edits  the  Gotha 

Collection,  i.  8. 
Breuil,  Peter  du,  i.  275. 
Brides  at  Church  with  long  tresses,  iii. 

162. 
Brosse,  i.  32. 

Brotherly  affection,  i.  333. 
Bucer,  Martin,  sketch  of,  i.  33,  58,  67,  75. 
urges  Calvin  to  Strasbourg,  i.  75,  77, 

89,  92. 
business  in  Germany,  i.  93,  105,  108. 
justified,  i.  114. 
zeal,  i.  125. 

defence  of  Luther's  Ceremonies,  i.  137. 
a  disputant  at  Riitisbon,  i.  265. 
prepares  to  go  to  England,  ii.  212. 
in  England,  ii.  232. 
death  of,  ii.  310. 
Bucyronia,  Francisca,  i.  104. 
Buda,  the  Turks  at,  i.  273. 
Bude,  John  de,  recommended,  ii.  118. 
admonished,  ii.  1 19. 
family  of,  consoled,  ii.  154. 
sent  into  Germany,  iv.268. 
Madame  de,  exhorted  to  leave  Prance, 
ii.90. 
Bullinger,  Henry,  sketch  of,  i.  65,  67,  68, 
108,  112,  115,  176,  362. 
estimate  of  Edward  VI.,  ii.  415. 
Burleigh,   Secretary  of  State,  sketch  of, 

iv.  15. 
Burnet,  i.  112. 
Busanton,  David  de,  i.  463. 


Calais,  liberty  desired  at,  i.  182. 
Calamities  overhanging   the   Church,  ii. 

226. 
Call,  lawful,  of  Calvin,  i.  75. 
Calm  at  Lyons,  iv.  325. 


446 


INDEX. 


Care  of  Calvin  for  the  Church  in   Ger- 
many, i.  93. 
Calumnies  against  Farel  and  Calvin,  i.  54. 
Calumny  refuted,  ii.  105. 

against  Calvin's  wife,  ii.  138. 
Calumnies  deplored,  iii.  178,  179. 
Calumny  replied  to  by  Coligny  and  Beza, 

iv.  323. 
Calvin's  Letters  preserved,  i.  6. 

copies  of,  i.  6. 

present  edition,  origin  of,  i.  8. 

Latin  style,  i.  10. 

French  Letters,  i.  11. 

Letters,  present  value  of,  i.  11. 

corresp.  and  modern  science,  i.  12. 

Letters,  number  of,  i.  13. 

dying  request,  i.  5,  13. 

expelled  from  Geneva,  i.  68. 

offers  to  attend  persons  sick  of  the 
plague,  i.  358. 

to  Luther,  i.  440. 

accused  from  a  stolen  letter,  i.  449. 

death,  iv.  377. 
Calvinism  and  Bucerism,  ii.  172. 
Camillo,   preaches   Antitrinitarianism,  i. 

359. 
Camus,  Alexander,  of  Lyons,  i.  323. 
Canonical  epistles,  Commentary  on,  i.  444. 
Canons  of  Cologne,  i.  444. 
Cantons  irritate  the  King  of  France,  ii.  15. 

invited  by  Julius  III.  to  send  depu- 
ties to  Trent,  ii.  309. 
Cany,  Madame  de,  encouraged,  ii.  201. 

exhortation  under  trial,  ii.  408. 

urged  to  settle  at  Geneva,  iii.  45. 

Capito,  efforts  of,  for  union  of  the  church, 

i.  67,  89,  92,  101,  104,  106. 

sincerity  of,  i.  114,  116. 

work  by,  on  Idolatry,  i.  304. 
Captivity  of  Farel's  brother,  ii.  22. 

of  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  iii.  129. 
Caraccioii,  Bishop  of  Troyes,  iv.  237. 
Carlostad,  his  change  towards  Luther,  i. 

190. 
Carmelites,  Letters  against,  i.  323. 
Cardinal  Pole's  conspiracy,  i.  126  ;  ii.  426. 

of  Chatillon,  the  Comte  de  Beauvois, 
iv.  329. 
Caroli,  i.  47. 

his  erratic  career,  i.  47. 

condemned,  i.  54-57. 

banished,  i.  57. 

and  Calvin  differ,  i.  53,  77. 

returns  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  i.  151. 

condemned    by   the   Synod    of  Lau- 
sanne, i.  151. 

forgiven  by  Farel,  i.  151. 

efforts  to  reconcile  Calvin  with  him, 
i.  154-158. 

reconciliation  effected,  i.  163. 

doubts  of,  i.  169,  171. 

answer  to  the  complaint  of,  i.  198; 

arrogance  of,  i.  384. 

intrigues  of,  i.  386. 

challenge  by,  i.  387. 


Castalio,  Sebastian,  proceedings  of,  i.  340. 
refused  the  ministerial  office,  i.  403. 
complaints  against,  iii.  52. 
Castalion,  on  punishment  of  heretics,  iii. 

144. 
Castelnaud  and  Villemongis  martyrs,  iv. 

106. 
Cateau-Cambresis,  peace  of,  effect  of,  on 
the  interests  of  the  Reformation, 
iv.  49. 
Catechism,  Calvin's,  i.  54. 
Catechisme,  Calvin's,  i.  338. 
Catechism    of  Heidelberg,   published  by 
Otho  Henry,  Count  Palatine,  a  Lu- 
theran, iii.  406. 
Catholic  League,  iv.  256. 

Cantons   allied   with    the    Duke   of 

Savoy,  iv.  144. 
causes  of  the  troubles  in  France,  iv. 
131. 
Caution  of  Calvin,  ii.  173. 
Cavent,  John,  consoled,  i.  464. 
Celio,  Secondo-curione,  sketch  of,  i.  352. 
Censure  of  "  The  Mirror  of  the   Soul," 
revoked,  i.  40. 
on  Melanchthon,  iii.  58. 
of  the  magistrates  by  Calvin,  ii.  177. 
Ceremonies,  dislike  of,  by  Calvin,  i.  136. 

in  England,  ii.  302. 
Chambery,  news  from,  iii.  230. 

admonitions  to,  iii.  233. 
Champerau  rebuked,  ii.  25. 

minister  at  Geneva,  i.  335. 
Chandieu,  Anthony  de  la  Roche,  minister 

at  Paris,  iii.  392. 
Change  in  the  form  of  the  oath  by  the 

Emperor,  iv.  284. 
Chaponneau,  sketch  of,  i.  410. 
Chapot,  Jean,  martyred,  ii.  35. 
Character  of  Italians  in  the  Church  at 

Geneva,  iii.  354, 
Character  of  Calvin's  wife  by  himself,  ii. 
216. 
of  Dumoulin,  iii,  120. 
of  youths  in  Geneva,  by  Farel,  ii.  445. 
of   the    Christianismi   MeatiHitio,    ii. 
422. 
Charles  V.,  i.  73,  239. 

policy  of,  i.  168,  180. 
Charles  of  Savoy  and  Francis  I.,  i.  173. 
Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.,  ii.  99. 
Charles  V.  and  Ghent,  i.  173. 

replies  to  the  theologians  of  Ratisbon, 
i.  273. 
Chastisement  of  Constance,  ii.  374. 
Chateaubriand,  Edict  of,  in  France,  ii.  319. 
Chatelain,  death  of,  ii.  342. 

Bishop  of  Macon,  i.  439. 
Chauvin,  Gerard,  i.  26. 
Chelius,  the  physician,  i.  160. 

Ulrich,  i.  58. 
Cheke,  John,  Preceptor  to   Edward  VI. 
ii.389. 
want  of  firmness,  ii.  389. 
trials  of,  ii.  389. 


INDEX. 


447 


Cheko,  repentance  and  death,  ii.  389. 

nnd  Morison,  English  refugees,  iii.  32. 
at  V^erona,  iii.  33 
Chevalier,  A.  Hiulolphus,  of   Strasbourg 

and  Caiiiliridge,  iii.  95. 
Chief  Reformers  in  Daiiphiny,  iv.  436. 
Child  of  Calvin's  dies,  ii.47. 
Children  dying  hefore  baptism,  iii.  71. 
Christian  Institution,  proposed  dedication 

of,  iv.  56. 
Cliriatiaiiiumi  ResHuuio,  by  Servetus,  ii. 

416. 
Christopher,  Duke  of  AVurteinberg,  sketch 

of,  iii.  400. 
Church  of  Frankfort,  members  of,  admo- 
nished, iii.  240. 
at  Geneva,  state  of,  i.  65,  74. 
revenues   in  England   plundered,  ii. 

357. 
in  danger,  ii.  200. 
spiritual  independence  of,  i.  346. 
"Christian  Institutes,"  translation  of,  i,45. 
Christmas  observed  by  Calvin,  ii.  288. 
Citation  of  wife  of  Amy  Perrin  before  the 

Consistory,  ii.  122. 
Citizenship   in    Strasbourg  conferred   on 

Calvin,  i.  293. 
Civil  magistrate,  powers  of,  ii.  45. 

authority  aud  spiritual  discipline,  i. 

377. 
war  in  prospect,  iv.  70. 
war,  preliminaries  of,  iv.  276. 
Clauburger,  Adolph,  of  Frankfort,  iii.  182. 

J(jhn,  condolence  with,  iii.  252. 
Claude,  (Deacon  at  Strasbourg),  i.  221. 
Clerac,  M.  de.  Evidence  of,  i.  457. 
Clervant,  M.  de,  sketch  of.  iv.  78. 

sympathies  for,  iv.  78. 
Coalition  of  kings   of  France  and  Spain 

against  Geneva,  iii.  481,  483. 
Cochlseus,  a  detractor  of  Luther,  i.  195. 
Coiifart,  kindness  of,  i.  28 — 33. 
Coligny,  Admiral  de,  sketch  of,  iii.  465. 
captivity  of,  iii.  465. 
congratulations  to,  on  his  constancy, 

iii.  4fi7. 
in  prison,  iv.  29. 
admonished,  iv.  192. 
emogy  on,  iv.  357. 
Madame  de,  sketch  of,  iii.  468. 
utility  of  afflictions,  iii.  468. 
CoUadon,  Nicolas,  ii.  266. 
Colleagues  of  Calvin,  i.  335. 

Viret,  advocate  on  his  deposition,  iv. 
21. 
Collection  on  behalf  of  the  brethren  at 

Paris,  iii.  367. 
College  customs  in  Paris,  i.  36. 
Colloquy  of  Poissy,  parties  at,  iv.  210. 

Berne,  unsuccessful,  iv.  382. 
Cologne,  Archbishop  of,  i.  196. 
Reformation  at,  1.  320. 
preaching  at.  i.  390,  392. 
Colonges,  M.  de,  answers  to  his  questions, 
iv.  252. 


Comedy  against  Queen  of  Navarre,  i.  37. 
Comfort  of  the  prisoners  of  Lyons  from 

Calvin's  letters,  ii.  411. 
Comment  on  a  work  by  Bullinger  on  the 

sacraments,  ii.  143. 
Commentary  on  Romans,  i.  167. 
on  1  Corinthians,  ii.  29. 
on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  iii.  18. 
on  Epistle  to  the  Qalatians,  ii.  77. 
on  1  Timothy,  dedicated  to  Somerset, 
ii.  183. 
Commentaries  on  Isaiah,  ii.  265. 
published,  ii.  72. 

of  Calvin  received  by  Edward    VI., 
ii.  315. 
Common  bread  in  the  communion,  iii.  162, 
Common  places.  The,  preface  to,  ii.  368. 
Commotions  at  Bourdeau.\,  ii.  199. 
Comparison  of  Luther  with  his  followers, 

iii.  159. 
Complaints  against  the  Bernese  clergy, 
iii.  75. 
against  Seigneurs  of  Berne,  iii.  314. 
against  Zebedee  to  the  Seigneurs  of 

Berne,  iii.  167. 
against  the  ministers  of  Zurich   and 

Berne,  ii.  335. 
against  the  Church  of  Zurich,  iii.  336. 
against  Melanchthon,  iii.  399. 
against  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv.  61. 
against  settlement  of  affairs  of  Ge- 
neva and  Berne,  iv.  87. 
against  the  Duchess  of  Guise,  iv.  261. 
of  Bullinger,  iii.  237. 
C(mc(>rd,  formula  of,  i.  263. 
Conde  arrested,  i.  147,  149,  151. 

in  captivity,  iv.  287. 
Condemnation,  ciiuseof,  in  corrupt  nature, 

ii.  366. 
Condolence  in   trouble  with  John  Laski, 

iii.  40. 
Conduct  of  Servetus,  ii.  429. 
of  Melanchthon,  iii.  293. 
of  Conde   censured,  iv.  301. 
Conference  at  Ratisbon,  character  of,  ii. 
41. 
of  the  Vaudois  prohibited,  ii.  251. 
desired,  for  settlement  of  dissensions, 

iii.  265. 
of  Spires,  iii.  284. 
decided  on,  iv.  207. 
at  Berne,  iv.  392. 
Confession  of  Martyrs,  approved  of,  iii. 
221,  231. 
of  Faith,  by  Beza,  iii.  344. 
of    Faith    presented    by    Calvin    to 

Henry  II.,  iii.  369. 
of  the  Deputies  of  France  and  Swit 
zerland  to  the  Assembly  at  Worms, 
iii.  370. 
of  D'Andelot.  iv.  30. 
drawn  up  by  Calvin   for  the  Diet  at 
Frankfort,  iv.  311. 
Confidence  in  Kins  of  Navarre  not  placed 
by  Calvin,  iv.  01. 


448 


INDEX. 


Confiscation  of  property  of  Libertins,  iii. 

309. 
Confusion  in  the  Church,  ii.  111. 

by   Westphal    regarding    the   sacra- 
ments, iii.  52. 
Congratulations  to  the  Church  at  Paris, 
iii.  390. 
on  steadfastness,  iv.  223. 
Consensus,  The,  publication  of,  urged  by 
Calvin,  ii.  304. 
translated  into  French,  ii.  305. 
publication  of,  ii.  240. 
Conspirators  punished,  i.  452. 
Constable  Mr.,  of  Edinburgh,  i.  13. 
Consistory  established  at  Orbe,  iii.  25. 
Consolation,  letter  of,  by  Calvin,  i.  246. 
to  M.  de  Falais,  ii.  84. 
in  divine  truth,  ii.  212. 
to  a  captive,  ii.  430. 
Conspiracy     against      Geneva     between 
France  and  Spain,  iv.  26. 
of  Lyons,  iv.  142. 
Constance,  danger  at,  ii.  44. 
danger  of,  ii.  96. 
chastisement  of,  ii.  374. 
Constancy    of   Coligny    commended,   iv. 
165. 
of  Madame  de  Rentigny,  iii.  381. 
Constraint  to  sin,  not  of  God,  ii.  366. 
Contarini,  Gaspar,  i.  240,  244. 
Contentions  among  the  refugees  at  Frank- 
fort, iii.  117. 
Contests  at  Neuchatel  on  Church  property, 

ii.  24. 
Continuation  of  troubles  in  Frankfort,  iii. 

271. 
Contribution   on  behalf  of  the  Churches 
in  Piedaiont,  iv.  204. 
for    German    Reformed   soldiers,  iv. 
279. 
Controversy,  Calvin  and  Du  Tillet,  i.  61. 
on  sacraments,  i.  477. 
occasioned  by  the  Plague  at  Geneva, 
i.  364. 
Correction  of  vices  to  be  encouraged,  ii. 

196. 
Corrections  of  The  Consensus  considered, 

iii.  89,  96,  98. 
Correspondence,  difficulties  of,  i.  127. 
of  Calvin's  wife,  ii.  217. 
dilatory,  i.  373. 
Correspondents  of  Calvin,  i.  193,  295,  353. 
Conversion,    congratulations    on,    to   the 

Queen  of  Navarre,  iv.  162. 
Cordier,  preceptor  of  Calvin,  i.  174,  309. 
Corruption  and  guilt,  Calvin  on,  ii.  365. 
Coss,  Nicholas,  i.  27,  36,  38,  40,  41. 

inculpated  at  Geneva,  ii.  61. 
Copies  of  first  work  presented  to  friends, 

i.  32. 
Cosmographia  Universalis,  author  of,  i. 

322. 
Cossonay,  Peter,  i.  350. 
Cost  of  travel,  ii.  86. 
Councils  in  Geneva,  i.  344. 


Council  of  Trent,  i.  438. 

of  Geneva  consults   Swiss   churches 
respecting  the  guilt  of  Servetus,  ii. 
427. 
Courage  of  Calvin,  ii.  57. 
Courault,  colleague  of  Calvin,  i.  70. 

death  of,  i.  99. 
Courtois,  articles  of,  i.  410. 
Counsels  to  Church  of  Wezel  regarding 
ceremonies,  iii.  64. 

to  the  people  of  the  Pays  de  Vaud, 
iii.  260. 

to  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv.  154. 

to  the  Admiral,  iv.  305. 
Count  Aymar  de  Grignan,  i.  470. 

Palatine,  i.  23. 
Cowardice  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv.  191. 
Cranmer,  i.  125. 

and  Bucer,  ii.  232. 

letter  to,  by  Calvin,  ii.  398. 

letter  to,  ii.  345. 

letter  from,  ii.  345. 
Crisis  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  iii.  279. 
Criticism  of  Mandate  of  Bernese,  ii.  289. 

of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  iv.  220. 
Croclati,  character  of,  i.  160. 
Cromwell,  i.  125. 

Thomas,  i.  161. 
Crottet,  M.,  "  chronicle  of,"  i.  8. 
Crown  of  Spain,  abdicated,  iii.  238. 
Cruel  persecution  in  Paris,  iii.  359,  391. 

sufferings  in  France,  iii.  411,  412. 
Cruelty  of  the  Emperor  at  Ratisbon,  ii.67. 
Crusade  against  Geneva,  preached  by  Pope 

Paul  IV.,  iv.  55. 
Crussol,  M.  de,  Governor  of  Abbeville,  iv. 

304. 
Cunningham,  Dr.,  of  Edinburgh,  i.  13. 

D 

Damnation  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  con- 
cerning, in  a  Letter  to  the  Duchess 
of  Ferrara,  iv.  352. 
Danes,  Professor,  i.  28. 

Preceptor  to  Francis  XL,  a  persecu- 
tor, i.  448. 
Dangers  of  the  church,  i.  420  ;  iv.  103, 106. 
in  Geneva,  ii.  35.  ^ 

of  the  Cantons,  ii.  96. 
of  the   Genevese  Republic  from   the 

Catholic  powers,  iii.  300. 
of  the  Guises,  iv.  143. 
Daniel,  Francis,  i.  26,  27,  29,  30,  31,  32, 
35,  36,  41,  44. 
plea  of  his  son,  a  refugee  at  Geneva, 
iv.  59. 
Dartois,  Lois,  i.  64. 

Dauphine,  inhabitants  of,  suffer,  ii.  32. 
sacked  because  of  murder,  iv.  181. 
Dauphiny,  Letter  to  a  Baron  of,  iv.  441. 
Dead,  prayers  to,  ii.  295. 
Death  in  Calvin's  family,  i.  420. 

of  Calvin's  wife,  ii.  80,  216,  217,  218. 

of  Pope  Paul  III.,  ii.  253. 

of  Edward  VI.,  regret  for,  ii.  414. 


INDEX. 


449 


Debt  of  the  King  of  Navarre  claimed  by 
Calvin  in  a  letter  to  the  Queen,  iv. 
318. 
Decades  of  Bullinger,  ii.  306. 
Decease  of  pastors,  iv.  217. 
Deceptive  news  from  France,  iv.  290. 
Decision  required  in  opposing  false  doc- 
trine, iii.  219. 
Dedication  of  a  Commentary,  ii.  29,  212. 
of  Commentaries  to  Edward  VI.,  ii. 

307. 
of  Commentary  to  Duke  of  Wurtem- 
berg  unnoticed,  iii.  49. 
Deep  distress  of  the  Church  of  Paris,  iii. 

359. 
Defects  of  Farel,  ii.  246. 
Defence  of  the  Church  of  Geneva;  Let- 
ter to  the  King  of  France,  iv.  167. 
of  the  Consensus,  iii.  74,  79,  87. 
of  the  Protestants  of  Locarno,  iii.  114. 
of  Farel  by  Calvin,  i.  379. 
Deity  of  Christ,  controversy  regarding,  i. 

411. 
Delay  at  Strasbourg,  i.  278. 

in  settlement  of  affairs  at  Metz,  i.  393. 
Delegates  to  the  Assembly  at  Paris,  iv.  39. 
(Peter    Martyr)    to    Conference    in 
France,  iv.  208. 
Demand  of  the  Catholic  Cantons,  i.  150. 
from  German  Princes  for  permission 
to  hold  a  Conference,  iii.  332. 
Denmark,  Reformation  introduced  into, 
i.  122. 
King  of,  evil  treatment  of  John  Laski, 
iii.  34,  40. 
Departure  of  Cond6,  iv.  345. 
Dependence  of  the  Bernese  clergy,  ii.  214. 
Deplorable   state  of   the  French  Protes- 
tants, ii.  341. 
Deposition  of  a  minister,  blamed,  in  a  let- 
ter to  the  French  Church  of  Stras- 
bourg, iii.  485. 
of  Viret,  by  the  Seigneurs  of  Berne, 
iv.  21. 
Deprecates  Zerkinden's  adverse  judgment 

and  defends  himself,  iii.  428. 
Deputations  to  France  and  England,  i.  202. 
Deputies  from  Berne,  i.  55. 

to  Frankfort  Assembly,  i.  116. 
from  Geneva,  wait  on  Calvin,  i.  218, 
from  Berne  dissatisfied,  i.  419. 
Desire  for  agreement  on  doctrine  of  elec- 
tion, ii.  380. 
of  Catharine  de  Medicis  to  hear  Pe- 
ter Martyr,  iv.  208. 
for  the  welfare  of  the  republics, iii.251. 
Desolation  in  Christendom,  i.  393. 

of  England,  ii.442. 
Desplan  and  his  wife,  complaints  against, 

by  Calvin,  iii.  169. 
Despotism  in  Berne,  i.  348. 
Deux  Discours,  by  Viret,  i.  448, 
Devotion  of  Calvin  to  Geneva,  i.  234. 
Diagnosis  of  Calvin's  disease,  iv.  358. 
Dialogues  of  Viret,  i.  403. 
57 


Diaz,  .Juan,  ii.  47. 

murder  of,  ii.  55. 
Dieppe,  Letter  to  the  Church  of,  iii.  395. 
sketch  of  church  at,  iii.  395. 
Knox,  minister  at,  iii.  395. 
Diesbach,  M.  de,  urged  to  succour  the  be- 
sieged in  Lyons,  iv.  274. 
Diet  of  Ratisbon,  "i.  200. 

debate  on  original  sin,  i.  200. 
"        on  freewill,  i.  260. 
"       on  justification,  i.  200. 
"       on  the  church,  i.  200. 
"       sacraments,  i.  261. 
disputants  at,  255. 
a  called,  i.  106. 

a  proposed,  by  the  Emperor,  i.  174. 
Differences  on  the  Communion,  ii,  160. 

respecting  the  Lord's  supper,  iii.  334. 
Difficult  position  of  Calvin,  ii.  424. 
Difficulties  at  Metz,  i.  385. 

of  a  godly  life  in  a  Nunnery,  ii.  230. 
of  Gallars,  iv.  139. 
of  Beza,  iv.  242. 

of  the  Academy  at  Geneva,  iv.  242, 
Diligence  of  Calvin,  i.  82. 
Dimonet,  Mathieu,  of  Lyons,  ii.  384. 
Diplomatic  struggle  in  Geneva,  iii.  286. 
Directions   for  promoting  reform  in   Po- 
land, iii.  479. 
on  subject  of  education,  iv.  89. 
Disagreement  of  Calvin  and  Melauchthon, 

iv.  418. 
Disappointment  of  Bucer,  ii.  212. 
Disavowal  of  the  conspiracy  of  Amboise, 

iv.  175. 
Discipline  guarded  by  Calvin,  i.  135. 
evils  of  want  of,  i.  192. 
in  church  at  Strasbourg,  i.  184. 
rejected,  i.  156. 

in  churches  of  Pays  de  Vaud,  ii.  116. 
less  rigorous  in  Zurich  than  inGeneva, 

ii.  442. 
exercised,  i.  176. 
Discouragement  and  trust  of  Calvin,  i.  100. 

of  Calvin,  ii,  147, 
Disorders  at  Lyons  condemned,  iv.  272. 
Dispatch  to  the  Swiss  churches  respecting 

controversy  with  Westphal,  ii.  114. 
Dispersion  of  the  Church  of  Montbeliard, 
iii.  460. 
of  the  Churches  in  Pays  do  Vaud,  iv. 
29. 
Dispositions  of  Catharine  de  Medicis,  iv. 

238. 
Disputes,  ii.  102, 

Geneva  and  Berne,  i,  334. 

between  Calvin  and  Castalio,  origin 

of,  i.  350. 
with  Castalio.  i.  409. 
Disquietude  of  Calvin   about  Synod  of 

Berne's  Acts,  i.  347. 
Dissensions  at  Court  of  Navarre,  iv.  36. 
in   the   French    Church,   iii.  207 
among  the  Bernese  ministers,  ii,  165, 
166. 


450 


INDEX. 


Dissent,  needless  causes  of,  i.  137. 
Dissolution  of  the   conference  of  Worms, 

iii.410. 
Distress  in  France,  ii.  374. 
Distresses    of    the    Swiss    Churches,   ii. 

164. 
Distressing  illness  of  Calvin,  iv.  362. 
Distrust  of  the  partisans  of  Lutheranism 
at  Frankfort,  iii.  254. 
of  Ferrara  and  Lorraine,  iv,  217. 
Disunion    caused   by  Marbaeh  at  Stras- 
bourg, iii.  116. 
Disturbance  in  Scotland,  iv.  116. 
Diversion  of  forces  in  the  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont and  Nice,  iv.  174. 
Diversity,   in  Church  order,  opposed  by 

Calvin,  ii.  288. 
Divine  service,  order  of,  i.  424. 
Divisions  at  Genva,  i.  81. 
Doctrines  explained,  ii.  291. 

of  Zuingli  on  the  sacraments  refuted 
by  Calvin,  iii.  181. 
Dolet,  Stephen,  of  Lyons,  i.  310. 
Domestic  affairs,  i.  93. 

griefs,  iii.  315,  iv.  71. 
Donations  for  the  poor,  ii.  207. 
Doubts  of  M.  de  Croussol  answered,  iv. 
236. 
respecting  the  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  iv. 
218. 
Douglas  of  Cavers,  i.  13. 
Dread  of  Bernese  Pastors  in  the  case  of 

Servetus  by  Calvin,  ii.  429. 
Dreux,  battle  of,  iv.  286. 
Dryander,  Francis,  (Enzinas),  ii.  111. 
at  Basle  and  in  England,  ii.  265. 
letter  to,  iv.  415. 
great  labours  of,  iv.  415. 
Ducherain,  Nicolas,  i.  25,  32. 
Duchess  of  Ferrara,  admonished,  iii.  447. 
incidents  in  her  life,  iii.  447. 
scruples  of,  iii.  449. 
sad  news  of,  iii.  88. 
Duke  of  Savoy,  i.  173. 
of  Cleves,  i.  384. 

of  Somerset,  protector  of  England, 
ii.  236. 
Dumoulin,  Charles,  Life  of,  iii.  47. 

encouraged  to  remain  in  Germany, 
iii.  119. 
Duplicity  of  the  Guises,  iv.  269. 
Duties  of  a  monarch,  iii.  490,  491. 
Duty  of  civil  magistrate  to  repress  error, 
ii.  428. 
of  parents  in  the  education  of  their 

children,  iii.  21. 
of  respect  and  charity,  iii.  277. 
Dysentery,  Calvin  seized  with,  i.  90. 

E. 

Eaply  friendship  of  Calvin,  i.  25,  29. 

Easter  celebrated,  iii.  33. 
and  C!hristmas,  ii.  289. 

Ecclesia,  Philip  de,  deposed  for  irregu- 
larities, ii.  388. 


Ecclesiastical  affairs  of  Germany,  iii.  479. 
discipline  desired,  i.  92,  169. 
form  of,  drawn  up  at  Geneva,  i.  284. 
obstacles  to,  at  Geneva,  i.  316. 
Calvin  and  Melanchthon  converse  on, 
i.  129. 
Ecclesiastical  concord,  proclaimed  by  a 
meeting  at  Frankfort,  iii.  410. 
difiBculties  at  Berne,  ii.  87. 
property,  i.  118,354,  360. 
quarrels,  ii.  32. 
statutes  of  Geneva,  i.  292. 
troubles  at  Lausaune,  iii.  459. 
Eck,  John,  i.  255,  256. 

apoplexy  of,  i.  263,  264. 
Edict  against  Heretics,  i.  160. 

of  Charles  V.  against  the  Protestants, 

ii.  280. 
of  Compeigne,  iii.  403. 
Edition  of   the  Bible  an,  proposed,  iv. 

416. 
Education  in  Zurich,  iii.  112. 
Edward  VL,  ii.  261. 
and  Calvin,  i.  10. 
Calvin  to,  i.  444. 

dedication  of  a  new  work  to,  ii.  354. 
regard  for  Calvin,  ii.  311. 
proposals  for  his  marriage,  ii.  320. 
letter  of  recommendation,  ii.  393. 
EflBcacy  of  the  word  of  God  apart  from 

sacraments,  iii.  283. 
Efforts  on  behalf  of  the  prisoners  of  Lyons, 
ii.  396,  397. 
of  Calvin  to   secure  a  mitigation  of 

sentence  on  Servetus,  ii.  436. 
on  behalf  of  the  prisoners   at  Cham- 

bery,  iii.  220. 
to  secure  success  of  mission  of  Farel 

and  Beza,  iii.  332. 
at  Worms,  by   Melanchthon   for  re- 
conciliation of  religious  parties,  iii. 
355. 
of  Beza  to  save  the  King  of  Navarre 

from  apostacy,  iv.  247. 
after  Reform  at  Cologne,  i.  376. 
for  the  Reformed  in  France,  ii.  343. 
to  spread  the  plague,  i.  452. 
of  the  Cantons  with  Henry  II.  fruit- 
less, ii.  349. 
of  Laski  in  Germany  for  peace  iu  the 

churches,  iii.  265. 
of   Viret  for  the  cause  of  truth  in 
Orbe,  iii.  15. 
Egmont,  Maximilian  d',  ii.  78. 
Elector,  John  Frederick,  i.  121. 

of  Saxony,  sentenced,  ii.  78. 
Election,  controversy  on,  with  Bolsec,  ii. 
322,  326. 
of  a  new  Pope,  ii.  264. 
of  a  pastor  for  the  Church   of  Paris, 
iii.  308. 
Elizabeth  of  England,  accession  of,  i.  10. 
dissatisfied  with  Calvin,  iv.  46. 
Calvin's  justification,  iv.  46. 
Eloquence  of  Farel,  ii.  246. 


INDEX. 


451 


Einbilen,  Countess  of,  a  correspondent  of 
J}e7,a,  iii.  43. 
llefuriued  Church  of,  iu  East  Fries- 
land,  founded  by  Laski,  iii.  i?fl6. 
Euiiiicnt  pastors  of  the  church  at  Paris, 

iii.  128. 
Empire,  the  Princes  of,  at  Nuremberg,  1. 

11(5. 
Emperor,  success  of,  i.  390. 
at  Worms,  i.  462. 
in  Savoy,  ii.  35- 

difficulties  and  desires  of,  i.  124. 
Encouragement  under  trials,  iv.  49. 

to  suffering  captives,  ii.  350. 
Energy  of  Calvin,  ii.  127,  128;  ii.  370. 
Engages  Martyr  to  defend  the  truth,  iii. 

59. 
England,  Reformation  in,  i.  125. 
state  of  religion  in,  ii.  282. 
English  Parliament,  i.  181. 

and  German  Churches  remain  sepa- 
rate, i.  181. 
churches  in  Frankfort  and   Geneva, 

ii.  439. 
troops  defeated,  ii.  29. 
Engrossing  labors  of  Calvin  at  Frankfort, 

iii.  295. 
Enmities  at  Geneva  to  which  Calvin  is 

exposed,  iii.  230. 
Entreaties  to  decide  the  German  Princes 

on  promoting  reform,  iii.  405. 
Epinicium   Christo   Oantatiiiii,  by  Calvin, 

iii.  331. 
Episcopal  succession,  iii.  106. 
Epistles  of  Calvin  published,  i.  176. 
Epistolary  troubles,  iv.  410. 
Erasmus,"  i.  108,  112. 
and  Calvin,  i.  191. 
of  Zurich,  i.  348. 
a  friend  of  Grynee,  i.  53. 
Erastiaiiism,  iv.  26,  27. 
Erbach,  Count  D',  congratulation  to,  iv.56. 
Letter  to  the  Comte  of,  iv.  231. 
to  oppose  introduction  of  Augsburg 
Confession  into  France,  iv.  231. 
Erich  unfaithful,  ii.  124. 
Erlangen,  Council  at,  i.  106. 
Ernest,  Duke  of  Lunebourg,  i.  122. 
Eric  XIV.,  of  Sweden,  iv.  27. 
Errors  of  Servetus  stated,  ii.  427. 
Escape  of  prisoners  at  PaVis,  iii.  391. 

of  women  at  Paris  from  the  mob,  iii. 
363. 
Espeville,  Charles  D',  i.  6.5,  73,  99. 
Essay  by  Calvin  on  Freewill,  i.  374. 
Establishment  of  the  gospel  in  Navarre 

advised,  iv.  290. 
Estfl,  Hercules  D',  and  Calvin,  iv.  122. 
Estimate  of  Capito,  Zuingli,  Luther,  and 
(Ecolarapadius,  i.  188. 
of  eulogy,  by  Calvin,  iii.  238. 
Eulogy  on  Laski,  iii.  325. 
Europe,  agitations  of,  iv.  115. 
Evil  rumours  regarding  Calvin,  iii.  77. 
Exactions  of  the  Bernese,  ii.  277. 


E.\ample  to  prince.-i,  of  Ilezekiah  and  Jo- 
siah,  iii.  246. 
of  Moses,  quoted  to  D'Andelot,  iii.42U. 
Excesses  of  the  Lutherans,  ii.  234. 

committed  by  the  Libertins,  iii.  339. 
in  the  south  of  France  deplored,  iv. 

173. 
of  the  Reformed,  censured,  iv.  237. 
Excitement  in  Geneva  caused  by  a  play, 
ii.  61. 
at  Geneva,  iv.  244. 
Excommunication,     disputes     about,     in 

Berne,  iii.  379. 
Excursions  projected,  ii.  275. 
Excuses  for  not  visiting  Poland,  iii.  317. 
Excuse  for  his  absence  from  Farel's  mar- 
riage, iii.  475. 
Exhortation  to  the  church  at  Geneva,  i. 

103. 
Exhortations  to  aid  the  persecuted,  i.  472, 
473,  477,  473. 
to  the  study  of  the  Scripture,  ii.  278. 
to  Cranmer,  ii.  356. 
Exhortation  to  patience  in  the  Church  of 
Paris,  during  persecution,  iii.  3.j9. 
Exhortations  to  perseverance  in  the  faith, 
iv.  19. 
to  the  King  of  Navarre,  to  give  the 
gospel  to  France,  iv.  161. 
Exiles  at  Geneva  defended,  iii.  5^'. 
Exile  of  ministers  threatened,  in  Wurtem- 

berg,  iii.  435. 
Explanations  regarding  tho  Lord's  Sup- 
per, ii.  168;  iii.  55,  116. 
respecting  the  errors  of  Servetus,  iii. 

35. 
of  differences  between  Berne  and  Ge- 
neva, iii.  249. 
Expulsion  of  Laski  from  Elsinore,  iii.  42. 
Exposition  of  Lord's  Supper  to  the  Swiss 
churches,  iii.  79-86. 
of  the  Reformed  Faith  ;  Letter  to  the 
King  of  France,  iii.  372-377. 
Extension  of  the  body  of  Christ,  iii.  284. 
Extravagance  of  the  Lutherans,  iv.  192. 


Faber,  of  Constance,  i.  195. 
Fabri,  Christopher,  i.  70,  464. 

his  marriage,  ii.  387. 

wife  of,  ii.  387. 

.John,  i.  323. 
Faith,  salvation  by,  ii.  294. 

of  D'Andelot.  iii.  437. 
Falais,  M.  de,  i.  395.  401,  465. 

at  Geneva,  i.  478. 

exhortation  to,  ii.  16,  20,  26. 

at  Cologne,  i.  422. 

at  Strasbourg,  i.  426.  461. 

settled  at  Geneva,  ii.  159. 

Madame  de,  i.  427.  482. 

her  constancy  i«  trials,  ii.  19. 

Helene  de,  ii .  84. 
Fall  of  the  French  Church  at  Strasbourg, 
iii.  217. 


452 


INDEX. 


False  charges,  i.  188. 

against  a  minister,  ii.  336. 

reports  concerning  Geneva,  ii.  134. 

report  of  Calvin's  death,  ii.  137. 

charge    as   to   the   abolition   of    the 
Lord's  Day,  iii.  165. 

charge  against  Calvin,  iii.  170. 

tidings  of  Admiral  Coligny,  iv.  29. 

report  of  the  death  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  iv.  340. 
Family  iifBiction,  i.  344. 
Farel,  William,  sketch  of,  i.  73. 

called  to  Neuchatel,  i.  73. 

discouraged,  i.  61. 

banished,  i.  74. 

death  of  nephew,  i.  78. 

Letters   to,  i.  89,  99,  104,  107,  116, 
128,  139,  149,  171. 

advice  of  Calvin  to,  i.  285. 

faithlessness  of,  i.  286. 

enraged  at  the  Bernese,  i.  290. 

at  Metz,  i.  349. 

disjiosition  of,  i.  386. 

accompanied  Servetus  to   the  stake, 
ii.  434. 

illness  and  recovery  of,  ii.  395. 

death  of,  i.  74. 
Farewell  of  Calvin   to  the  r^eigneurs  of 
Geneva,  iv.  369. 

to  the  ministers  of  Geneva,  iv.  372. 
Farnese,  Peter,  assassinated,  ii.  144. 
Fathers,  early,  against  Romish  errors,  i. 
367. 

of  Trent,  Calvin  on,  ii.  139. 
Fatin,  minister  at  Neuchatel,  i.  168. 
Faults,  attributed  to  Poulain,  iii.  241. 

of  the  Reformed  leaders,  iv.  127. 
Favor  shown  to  Servetus  at  Bale,  iii.  143. 

shown  to  Coligny,  iv.  346. 
Favorable  state  of  affairs  at  Geneva,  ii. 

146. 
Favre,  imprisonment  of  family  of,  ii.  53. 
Fears  for  Germany,  ii.  118. 

of  Calvin  about  his  return  to  Geneva, 
i.  230. 

regarding  events  in  Germany,  ii.  113. 

respecting  return  of  Calvin  to  Geneva, 
i.  265. 
Fellow  ministers  saluted,  ii.  228. 
Ferey,  Claude,  i.  237. 
Feron,  deposed,  ii.  27,  223. 
Ferrara,  Duchess  of,  i.  104. 

Minister  to,  iii.  50. 

requests  Calvin's  aid,  iii.  51. 

Calvin  to  the  Duchess  of,  i.  295. 

sketch  of  her  life,  i.  295. 

Duchess  of,  admonished,  iv.  313. 
Festivals  abolished  at  Geneva,  ii.  287. 

forbidden,  iii.  163,  164. 
Feuds  at  Geneva,  iii.  182. 
Fever,  Calvin  attacked  by,  iii.  479. 
Fevre,  Richard  Le,  martyred,  ii.  291. 
Fickleness  of  Baudouin,  iii.  218. 
Fidelity  of  imprisoned  ministers  at  Cham- 
"bery,  iii.  206. 


Fidelity  of  imprisoned  ministers  at  Gham- 

bery  ;  Letters  to  them,  iii.  217. 
Firm  attitude  of  Beza  at  Poissy,  iv.  229. 
Firmin,  Antony,  of  Strasbourg,  i.  73,  77, 

104. 
Firmness  of  Calvin,  ii.  424,  440. 
First  religious  war,  iv.  282. 
Five  prisoners  of  Lyons,  ii.  391. 
exhorted  to  constancy,  ii.  391. 
their  sufferings,  ii.  391. 
condemned  to  be  burned,  ii.  391. 
Five  prisoners  at  Chambery,  salutations 

to,  iii.  220,  231. 
Foncelet,  Bastien,  complaints  by  Calvin, 

iii.  168. 
Fontaine,   Nicolas   de   la,  prosecutor  of 

Servetus,  ii.  417. 
Fontainebleau,  Edict  of,  i.  203. 

Assembly  of,  iv.  131,  133,  135. 
Foreign  Protestants  in  England,  ii.  303. 
Church  of  London  scattered,  iii,  29. 

40. 
news,  iii.  39. 
Foreigners,    number    of,    in    Church    in 

London,  ii.  426. 
Foreordination,  ii.  365. 
Form    for  administration    of   the  Lord's 
Supper  urged  by  Calvin,  ii.  241. 
of  Baptism  at  Geneva,  iii.  163. 
Formulse,  difBeulties  of,  on  leading  sub- 
jects, i.  272. 
regarding  the  Lord's  Supper,  ii.  214. 
Formulary  drawn  up  by  Beza  and  Farel, 
censured,  iii.  369. 
by  Calvin,  ii.  235. 
Forteret,  college  of,  Calvin  at,  i.  36. 
Fournelet,  Peter,  i.  323. 
Four  sermons  by  Calvin,  ii.  354. 
Framberg,  character  of,  i.  35. 
France,  news  from,  i.  73,  187. 
Francis  I.,  truce  with  Charles  V.,  i.  73, 
116. 
policy  of,  i.  168. 
deputation  to,on  behalf  of  Waldenses, 

i.  283. 
dissipiition  of,  ii.  36. 
death  of,  ii.  100. 
Francis   II.  aggravates  the  condition  of 
the  French  Protestants,  iv.  80. 
death   of,  iv.  162. 
Frankfort,  Calvin  goes  to  Assembly  at,  i. 
116. 
Assembly,  conclusion  of,  i.  128. 
Fraternal  relations  vfith    the  pastors  of 
Frankfort,  desire  for,  expressed,  iii. 
254. 
Freeht  of  Ulm,  on  discipline,  i.  130. 
Free  exercise  of  religion  in  Metz,  iii.  470. 
demnnded  in  the  estates  of  Orleans, 
iv.  172. 
Frellon,  .Tohn,  (Servetus),  ii.  30. 
French  Church  at  Strasbourg,  i.  110,  220. 
in  London,  ii.  360. 
refugee  recommended  to  Bucer,  i.  33. 
success  in  Italy,  i.  420. 


INDEX. 


453 


Fresh  outbreak  of  Sacramentarian  quar- 
rel, iii,  234. 

eucuurageiueut  of   the   French   Pro- 
testants, iv.  80. 
Frie,  Guillauaic  de,  death  of,  iv.  257. 
Friendship  of  Calvin,  ii.  132. 
Froment,  Antony,  i.  62,  465. 

folly  of,  i.  342. 
Frugality  of  Calvin,  iii.  235. 
Fugitive  Libertins,  efforts  of,  iii.  286. 
Furbiti,  (Uomiuican),  i.  51. 

G 

Uallantries  of  Conde  censured,  iv.  338, 
Gallars,  Nicholas  des,  i.  7,  401  ;  ii.  84. 

returns  to  Geneva,  ii.  145,  362, 
(iarnier  of  Strasbourg,  ii.  372. 

John,  of  Avignon,  an  adversary  of 
the  Reformation,  iii.  469. 
(Jaspar,  difficulties  of,  i.  170,  183. 
(last,  i.  118. 
Gaucherie,  Francis  de  la,  preceptor  to  the 

prince  of  Beam,  iv.  36. 
Gaud,   castle   of,   the  prison  of  Admiral 

Cologny,  iv.  29. 
Gaussen,  M.  le  Pasteur,  i.  12. 
Gellin,  John,  exhorted  to  leave  France  for 

Geneva,  iv.  92. 
General  council,  value  of,  i.  442. 
Genesis,  Calvin  on,  i.  339. 

Commentary  on,  ii.  279. 
Geneva,  Calvin  in,  i.  45. 

advice  to,  by  Calvin,  i.  82. 
disturbances  at,  i.  110,  192. 
Church  of,  Calvin  advises  peace  and 

unity,  i.  142. 
Calvin  unwilling  to  return  to,  i.  187. 
prospect  of  return  to,  i.  276,  277. 
arrives  at,  again,  i.  284. 
state  of  the  Church  in,  i.  307. 
Geneveso   clergy  accused  of  Arianism,  i. 
49. 
state  of,  i.  151. 
Geniston,  Louis  de,  ii.  23. 
Geutili,  Servetus,  Bolsec,  ii.  338. 
Geutilis  Valentin,  sketch  of,  iii.  443. 

suffers  for  heresy,  iii.  443. 
George,  Count  of  Wurtemberg,  the  cause 
of  persecuted  ministers  in  his  states 
pleaded,  iii.  435. 
elector,  i.  127. 
i>uke  of  Saxony,  i.  105, 
of    Sicily,   reply   to,   attacks   of,   ii. 

317. 
of  Wurtemberg.  ii.  208. 
Gering  of  Berne,  i.  348. 
Germain,  St.,  Beza  detained  at,  by  Queen 

of  Navarre,  iv.  245. 
German  princes  steadfast,  i.  137,  239, 
Germany,  news  from,  i,  110,  275. 
alarmed,  i.  93. 
state  of  religion  in,  i.  105. 
condition  of,  i.  321,  374. 
threatened  by  the  Turks,  i,  393, 
Ghent,  revolt  of,  i.  173. 


Girard,  Michael,  wavers,  ii.  418. 
is  strengthened,  ii.  419. 
his  confession,  ii.  419. 
Glastonbury,  minister  of,  ii.  210. 
Gloomy  prospects  in  Geneva,  iii,  39, 

in  France,  iv.  67,  69. 
God  not  the  author  of  sin,  ii.  308. 

the  author  of  sin,  a  calumny  against 

Calvin,  iv.  417. 
trust  in,  i.  245. 
Godless  clergy  sustained  in  England,  ii. 

357. 
Goodman,  Christopher,  and  Knox,  iv.  185. 
Gospel  defended  by  the  German  princes, 
i.  132. 
progress  of,  in  France,  i.  137. 
the,  comforts  in  suffering  and  afi3ic- 
tion,  ii.  412,  413. 
Grace,  salvation  by,  ii.  293, 
Graininont,  Madame  de,  consoled,  iv.  70, 
Granvelle,  Chancellor,  i.  180. 
Gualter,  Rodolph,   Pastor  and   Professor 

at  Zurich,  iii.  289. 
Greek  Concordance  to  the  Old  Testament, 
iii.  301. 
Uebrew  and  Latin  chairs  established 
at  Geneva,  iii.  464. 
Grey,  Lord   John,   uncle   to    Lady  Jane 

Grey,  iii.  94. 
Gribaldi,  Matteo,  the  Antitrinitarian,  iii. 

325-328. 
Grief  of  Calvin  at  fall  of  French  Church 
at  Strasbourg,  iii.  218. 
of  Calvin,  ii.  314. 
of  the  Reformers,  i.  237. 
Grievous  persecutions  in  France,  iii.  352. 
Grindal's  judgment  of   the   state  of  the 

English  Church,  iv.  101. 
Gropper,  John,  i.  255. 
Grossman,  Gaspar,  i.  55. 
Gruet,  case  of,  ii.  123. 

tortured,  ii.  128. 
Gryn6e,  Simon,  i,  53,  69,  74,  75,  79,  89, 
97,  150. 
death  of,  i.  294. 
Guelfs   and    Qhibelines,  quarrel  of,   con- 
demned, iii.  240 . 
Guests  in  Calvin's  house,  ii.  176. 
Guilt  of  disturbing  order  in  a  church,  iii. 

242. 
Guises,  evil  influence  of,  iv.  91. 

conduct  of,  iv.  131.  133. 
Guizot,  M.,  and  the  Reformation,  i.  11. 

U 

IJcERETicis  DE,  a  reply  to  the  views  of 

Calvin,  iii.  35. 
Haguenau  Assembly  at,  i.  189. 
Half-eonimunion.  Calvin  on,  i.  370. 
Haller,  John,  of  Zurich  and  Ucrne,  ii.  249. 
Hamelin,  Philibert,  life  and  martyrdom, 

ii.432. 
Hans  of  Ulm  penitent,  i.  1 1 1 . 
Happy  influence  of  Calvin  at  Frankfort, 

iii.  305. 


454 


INDEX. 


Hating  enemies,  lawfulness  of?  iv.  357. 
Hatred  of  piety  in  the  heart  of  the  French 

king,  iv.  58. 
Hautmont,  M.  de,  Louis  du  Tillet,  i.  53. 
Havoc  of  the  Waldenses,  i.  458. 
Havre,  siege  of,  iv.  324. 
Hebrew,   Greek,  and   Latin   chairs  esta- 
blished at  Geneva,  iii.  464. 
Hedio,  death  of,  iv.  419. 
Heidelberg,  Reformation  at,  ii.  44. 
Helvetic  Confession,  ii.  241. 
Henderson,  of  Park,  i.  13. 
Henry,  Dr.  Paul,  Life  of  Calvin,  i.  8. 

II.,    of    France,    a     persecutor,    ii. 

163. 
and  the  Swiss  Cantons,  ii.  225. 
persecuting  the  Protestants,  ii.  280. 
struck  by  the  lance  of  Montgomery, 

iv.  55. 
death  of,  iv.  28. 
VIILi.  165,  190. 
policy  of,  i.  169. 
change  of  policy,  i.  177. 
condemned  by  Calvin,  i.  10. 
answered  by  the  Princes  of  Germany, 
i.  161. 
Hereditary  succession  in  monarchies,  iii. 

37. 
Hermann,  Anabaptist  discussion  with,  i. 
172. 
renounces  his  errors,  i.  101. 
Heresy,  opposition  of  Calvin  against,  ii. 
338. 
charged  on  Calvin,  iii.  180. 
Heroism  of  Calvin,  ii.  148. 
Hesitation  of  Viret  blamed,  iii.  456. 
Heu,  Gaspar  de,  favors  reform,  i.  389. 
High  character  of  Clauburger,  iii.  278. 
Hilles,  an  English  refugee,  iii.  32. 
Hints  to  Coligny  respecting  Romish  and 

Lvitheran  intrigues,  iv.  221. 
"  Histoire  de  la  Reformation,"  i.  45. 
Historical  calumny  refuted,  iv.  434-442. 
Homage  to  the  zeal  of  Coligny,  iv.  202. 
Household  troubles,  i.  205. 
Housekeeper,  Calvin's,  i.  204. 
Hooper,  Chaplain  to  Somerset,  ii.  210. 

a  prisoner,  ii.  307. 
Hopes  connected   with  the  accession  of 
Elizabeth,  iv.  15. 
of  pacificatiiin  by  means  of  a  Confer- 
ence, iii.  337. 
and  fears  for  the  future,  ii.  112. 
of  Reform  in  Poland,  iii.  323. 
Hospitality  of  the  Genevese,  iii.  33. 

to  the  faithful  at  Zurich,  iii.  131. 
Hospitalities  in  Italy,  ii.  312. 
Hostility  increases  at  Geneva  against  Cal- 
vin, iii.  181. 
Hostilities    of  Duke   of   Savoy,   iv.   173, 

174. 
Hotman,  Francis,  the  Jurisconsult,  ii.  223, 
224. 
quarrel  with  Baudoin,  iv.  40. 
House  visitation,  ii.  286. 


Hubert,  Conrad,  Secretary  to  Bucer,  iii. 

330. 
Humiliation  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris 

and  of  the  Guises,  iv.  339. 
Hungary,  i.  242. 

invaded  by  the  Turks,  i.  375. 
Husband  of  Mary  Stuart  of  Scotland,  iv. 

91. 
Hypocrisy  denounced,  iii.  182,  183. 


IcoNES,  Virornm  Illustrium,  i.  65. 

Idolatry  of  Romish  worship,  Calvin  on, 
i.  368. 

Idelette  de  Bure  (Calvin's  wife)  and  the 
plague,  i.  247. 

Ignorance  and  weakness  of  the  King  of 
Navarre,  iv.  161. 

Ill-humor  of  Bernese  against  the  Gene- 
vese, iii.  297. 

Illness  of  Calvin,  iv.  31,  36. 

Images  abhorred  by  Bucer,  i.  137. 

Image  worship,  Calvin  on,  i.  366. 

Imminent  danger  of  Beza,  iv.  265. 

Immoral  conduct  of  the  wife  of  Calvin's 
brother,  Anthony,  iii.  308,  315. 

Immortality  of  the  Soul,  Calvin's  treatise 
on,  i.  43. 

Implacability  of  French  King,  iv.  58. 

Imposture  and  immorality  detected  and 
censured,  iii.  288. 

Imprisonment  of  Reformers,  ii.  239. 

Improprieties   and  excesses   condemned, 
iv.  270. 

Imprudent  concessions   to   Romish  Pre- 
lates, iv.  258. 

Inability  to  procure  ministers  for  Paris, 
iv.  170. 

Inconsiderate  ardor,  iv.  153. 

Indisposition  of  Calvin,  ii.  136. 

Inducements  held  out  by  Calvin  to  Mar- 
tyr to  settle  in  Geneva,  iii.  314. 

Inefficacy  of  steps  on  behalf  of  the  French 
Protestants,  iv.  54. 

Inefficient   efforts   on    behalf   of   French 
Protestants,  iii.  380. 

Infant  baptism,  i.  172. 

Influence   of  Calvin's  writings    in    Ger- 
many, iii.  66. 
of  great  men  to  be  used  for  the  truth, 
ii.  260. 

Innocence  of  Calvin,  i.  86. 

of  Conde  declared,  iv.  155. 

Injury  forgotten  by  Calvin,  i.  236. 

Inquisition  in  Italy,  i.  355. 
at  Paris,  iii,  460. 

"Institution  Chretienne,"  i.  104. 
defended,  iii.  177. 
of  Geneva  assailed  at  Berne,  iii.  151. 

Intercession  for  Hooper,  ii.  308. 
for  French  Protestants,  ii.  327. 

Interest  of  Farel  for  church  at  Geneva, 
ii.  434. 

Interim,  The,  at  Strasbourg,  ii.  212. 
attacked  by  Calvin,  ii.  263. 


INDEX. 


455 


Interim,  The,  controversies  excited  there- 
by, ii.  270,  274. 
Intervention  of  German  princes  besought 
for  the  persecuted  at  Paris,  iii.  .'?()7. 
Intolerance  of  Lutherans  in  German}',  iii. 
39,  41. 
of  the  Guises,  iv.  345. 
of  Toussain  complained  of,  iii.  477. 
Intrigues    of  Vergerio   in    Germany,  iv. 
188. 
at  Court  of  Wurtemberg,  iv.  211. 
Invitation  to  concord,  iv.  400. 
Issue  of  conference  at  Worms,unfortunate, 

iii.  410. 
Italian  Prelates,  i.  240. 

Church  in  Geneva,  calls  Peter  Mar- 
tyr, iii.  313. 
of  Geneva,  troubles  of,  iii.  422. 
Italians    inclined   to    Antitrinitarianism, 

iii.  442. 
Italy  and  France,  tour  of  Calvin  in,  i.  44. 
state  of,  i.  374. 


Jbalous  opposition  to  Calvin,  iii.  433. 

Jean  de  Bude,  i.  6. 

Joachim  of  Brandenbourg,  i.  123. 

Jodocus  of  Berne,  ii.  167. 

Joly,  M.  Cretien,  iv.  440. 

Jonas,  Justus,  friendship  of  Calvin  for, 

iii.  295. 
Jonvillers,  Charles  de,  i.  6. 
secretary  to  Calvin,  i.  7. 
of  Chartres,  ii.  179. 
Joy  at  success  of  Beza  at  Poissy,  iv.  229. 
of    Catholics   at   report  of    Calvin's 
death,  iii.  269. 
Journey  of  Calvin,  i.  460. 
of  Viret,  ii.  42. 
of  Farol  to  Geneva,  ii.  138. 
of  Calvin  to  Berne,  ii.  165. 
of  Calvin  and  Farel  into  Switzerland, 

ii.  341. 
to  Berne,  account  of,  iii.  169. 
of  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv.  143. 
Judgment  of  Luther's  character,  i.  433, 
iii.  407. 
of  different  churches  on  ecclesiastical 

discipline,  ii.  449. 
respecting  Bucer,  iii.  121. 
Judges  at  Paris  accused  of  remissness  in 

persecution,  iii.  407. 
Juliers,  Duke  of,  i.  124. 
Jussy,  Nicolas  de,  i.  341. 
Justice  done  to  Calvin  about  the  trial  of 
the  Libertins,  iii.  207. 

K 

Keen  censure  of  the  King  of  Navarre  in 

a  letter  to  that  monarch,  iv.  194. 
Kempten,  Abbot  of,  i.  275. 
Kindness  of  Calvin,  i.  219. 
King  of  England,  Calvin's  letter  to,  ii. 
283. 
letter  to,  ii.  299. 


King  of  France  enibn.'sy  to,  i.  129, 

"         at  a  martyrdom,  ii.  240. 
of    Navarre    urged    to    protect    the 

French  Protestants,  iii.  423. 
of  Navarre,  letter  to,  iii.  384. 
"  sketch  of,  iii.  384. 

"  letter  to,   on   misunder- 

standings in  his  household,  iii.  487. 
of  Poland,  exhorted  to  reformation  in 

his  states,  iii.  244. 
letter  to,  iii,  99. 
Kno.x,  first  visit  of,  to  Calvin,  iii.  37. 
sketch  of,  iii.  189. 
at  Geneva,  iii.  455. 
letter  to,  iv.  183. 
letters  between  Calvin  and  Knox  lost, 

iv.  183, 
John,  answer  to  questions  of,  iv.  73. 
Konzen,  Peter,  hostile  to  Farel  and  Calvin, 
i.  68,  89,  90,  91,  105,  193  ;  iv.  388, 
392,  393,  397. 


Labofks  of  Calvin,  i.  132,  374  j  ii.  43, 
72;  iii.  344. 

Lambert,  John,  burnt,  i.  126. 

Landgrave,  of  Ilesso  sentenced,  ii.  78. 

Lange,  John,  complaints  against  by  Cal- 
vin, iii.  167. 

Languedoc,  outrages  in,  i.  58. 

letter  to  the  churches  of,  iv.  278. 

Languet,  Hubert,  author  of  Vindicice  con- 
tra Tyrannos,  iii.  484. 

Laseo,  Joannes  a,  ii.  283,  361. 

Last  adieus  to  Farel,  iv.  364. 

efforts    to  secure  alliance   of    Berne 

with  Geneva,  iii.  247. 
Testament  of  Calvin,  iv.  365. 
words  of  Calvin,  iv.  378. 

Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  chairs   estab- 
lished at  Geneva,  iii.  464. 
correspondence  of  Calvin,  first  pub- 
lished, i.  7. 

Laudrin,  i.  32. 

Laurent  de  Normandie,  i.  6. 
Philip,  i.  26. 

Lausanne,  disputation  at,  i.  45. 
Synod  of,  i.  47,  55. 
"      at,  ii.  107. 

Law,  the,  condemns  all  sinners,  ii,  293. 

Layman  not  enjoined  by  Christ  to  bap- 
tize, iii.  283. 

League  against  the  Reformation,  iv.  260. 

Leave  of  absence  granted  to  Calvin  to 
visit  Frankfort  about  the  dissen- 
sions in  the  Church,  iii.  291. 

Lecompte,  John,  i.  120. 

Lectures  of  Bucer,  Caroli  at,  159. 

Le  Fevre  of  Etaples,  i.  47. 

Legal  expenses,  iii.  342. 

butchery  at  Toulouse,  iv.  276. 

Legitimacy  of  a  Council,  conditions  for, 
iv.  158. 

Legrant,  elder  of  Frankfort,  admonished, 
iv.  23. 


456 


INDEX. 


Leipsic,  Aspembly  of,  ii.  271. 

Lenglin,  M.,  pastor  of  the  French  Church 

of  Strasbourg,  iii.  331. 
Lening,  John,  letter  to,  iv.  173. 
Lenox,  J.,  of  New  York,  i.  13. 
Leo,  colleague  of  Bullinger,  i.  67. 
Juda,  i.  176. 

"       death  of,  i.  362. 
Le  Roy,  i.  32. 
Lesser  Prophets, commentary  on,  dedicated 

to  Duke  de  Longueville,  iv.  42. 
L'Etoile,  i.  40. 
Letter  to  King  of  France  on  behalf  of  his 

Protestant  subjects,  i.  273. 
Letters  of  Calviu  at  Zurich,  Gotha,  and 
Paris,  i.  8. 
lost,  i.  117. 
Lever,    Thomas,  an  English  refugee,  iii. 

35. 
Levity  in  Comte  D'Beauvois,  iv.  329. 
Libertet,  Christopher,  i.  42. 
Libertins,  imprisoned,  ii.  33. 
defeated,  ii.  117. 
conspiracy  of,  ii.  370. 
increasing  violence  of,  ii.  387. 
refused  admission  to  the  Lord's  Ta- 
ble, ii.  423. 
at  Geneva  defeated,  iii.  18.^,  192-202. 
Liberty  of  the  ministry  asserted,  iii.  171- 

176. 
Liner,  John,  of  Saint  Gall,  ii.  358. 
Ligues,  meeting  of  the,  in  Baden,  iii.  292. 
the  ambassadors  of;  Letter  to,  iii.  296. 
Liser,  Gaspar,  instructions  to,  iii.  67. 
Literary  labors  of  Beza,  ii.  298,  372. 

labors  of  Calvin,  ii.  283. 
Liturgy  of  Calvin  on  the  Holy  Supper, 
ii.  241. 
of  the  English  at  Frankfort,  iii.  117. 
Locarno,  Protestants  of,  at  Zurich,  iii.  131. 
Loines,  M.de.  Councillor  in  the  Parliament 
at  Paris,  iv.  343. 
admonished  to  retain  his  office,  and 
to  hold  fast  to  the  truth,  iv.  343. 
London,  French  Church  in,  ii.  360. 
Longemeau,  Mademoiselle  de,  a  prisoner 

at  Paris  ;  Letter  to,  iii.  389. 
Longing  for  union,  ii.  214. 
Longueville,  Duke  de,  sketch  of,  iv.  44. 
admonished  against  the  idolatry  of 

his  day,  iv.  44. 
warned  about  the  Court,  iv.  63. 
Lord's  Supper  guarded,  i.  176,  222. 
question  about,  i.  101. 
Melanchthon  on,  i.  261. 
Calvin  on,  i.  261 ;  ii.  40. 
disputes  at  Berne,  concerning,  i.  345. 
Tract  of  Calvin  on,  i.  305. 
effects  of,  i.  306. 
explanations  concerning,  ii.  83. 
Lorraine,  Duke  of,  conduct  of,  i.  124. 
mission  of,  to  Germany,  iv.  289. 
Loss  to  religion  by  death  of  Edward  VL, 
ii.  415. 
of  power  by  the  Guises,  iv.  156. 


Loudun,  minister  sent  to,  iii.  228. 

Reform  at,  iii.  228. 
Louis,  the  Elector  Palatine,  i.  22. 
Louise  of  Savoy,  i.  39. 
Luneburg  attacked,  i.  139. 
Lunden,  Bishop  of,  i.  123. 
Luther,  i.  67. 

on  the  Lord's  Supper,  i.  89. 

and  Zuingli,  i.  109. 

works,  interest  of  Calvin  in,  i.  163. 

salutes  Calvin,  i.  167. 

invectives,  i.  432. 

pardoned,  i.  433. 

tyranny,  i.  466. 
Lutheran  Church,  treaty  of  union  with, 

i.  68. 
Lutheranism  and  Reform,  iii.  239. 

opposed  by  Calvin,  iv.  322. 
Lusen,  John,  Letter  to,  on  Polish  affairs, 

iv.  112. 
Lunz,  Madame  de,  burned  at  Paris,  iii. 

363. 
Lyons,  i.  51. 

Reformation  at,  i.  310. 

the  brethren  of,  i.  323. 

surrendered  at  the  peace  of  Amboise, 
iv.  295. 

M 
Macar,  John,  at  Paris,  iii.  392. 

congratulated  on  his  zeal,  iv.  429. 

death  of,  iv.  125. 
Macard,  .John,  Pastor  at  Paris,  ii.  388. 
Magistrates,  duty  of,  i.  316,  317. 

elected  at  Geneva,  i.  449  ;  ii.  198. 

of  Berne  and  Zurich  advise  vigor  to- 
wards Servetus,  ii.  435. 
Maigret  deposed,  ii.  140. 
Maimbourg,  the  Jesuit,  testimony  of,  i. 

458. 
Majority  of  Charles  IX.,  iv.  335. 
Malady  of  Calvin,  iii.  269,  481. 
Maldonad,  of  Hanover,  i.  480. 
Maldonado,  sickness  of,  ii.  142. 

restored,  ii.  147. 
Malevolence  at  Berne,  ii.  249. 
Maligny  checked  at  Lyons,  iv.  128. 
Malizi  and  Crociati,  i.  160. 
Manducation  promiscuous,  opinion  of,  by 

Calvin,  iii.  335. 
Marais,  Mary  Du,  Calvin's  sister,  i.  31. 
Marbach,  Dr.,  a  popular  preacher,  iii.  54. 
Marcourt,  i.  92,  419. 
Mare,  Henry  de  la,  i.  335. 
Maremme,  Lord  of,  a  Reformer  at  Ferrara, 

ii.439. 
Margaret  of  Valois,  i.  36,  40. 

her  liberality  to  the  poor,  ii.  207. 
Marolles,  M.  de,  of  Picardy,  ii.  399. 
Marot,  Clement,  i.  451. 
Marriage  of  Calvin,  project  about,  i.  141. 

Farel  and  Bucer  active  in,  i.  110, 141, 
204. 

proposed,  i.  173. 

a  difficulty  about,  i.  264. 


INDEX. 


457 


Marriage,  form  of,  iii.  162. 

of  Farel  deplored,  iii.  473. 

regulations  concerning,  ii.  299. 
Marquis  of  Guasto,  death  of,  ii.  51. 
Martianus,  Lucanius,  i.  43,  46. 
Martin  Bacer,  i.  3.3,  37,  50. 
Martinongo,  Count  Celso  of  Brescia,  iii. 
234. 

illness  of,  iii.  345. 

his  death,  iii.  353. 
Martyr,  Peter,  sketch  of,  iii.  59. 

and  the  Consensus,  iii.  98. 

and  the  Sacratnentarian  controversy, 
iii.  121. 

succeeds  Pellican,  iii.  269. 

called  to  the  Italian  Church,  Geneva, 
iii.  313. 

death  of,  iv.  282. 
Martyrdom  at  Sedan,  i.  183. 

at  Bdurg-en-Bresse,  ii.  318. 

at  Bourdeu.x,  ii.  349. 

at  Lyons,  ii.  429. 

at  Chamberry,  iii.  220. 
Mary  of  Englatid,  character  of,  ii.  426. 
Mass,  The,  ii.  296. 

Calvin  on  the,  i.  300,  366. 
Massacre  of   Waldenses  in   Province,   i. 
458. 

of  St.  Bartholomew,  iii.  392, 
Massacres  of  Protestants  in   France,  iv. 

190. 
Matrimony  proposed  to  Viret,  ii.  63. 

further  details,  ii.  65,  68. 
Maurice  of  Saxony,  i.  122. 
Maurus  Musreus,  i.  50,  262. 
Measures  towards  fugitive  Libertins  justi- 
fied, iii.  309. 
Meaux,  letter  to  the  Church  of,  iii,  393. 

sketch  of  Church  of,  iii.  393. 
Medicine  useless   in  Calvin's  disease,  iv. 

362. 
Medical  consultation  on  Calvin's  health, 

iv.  358. 
Megander,  sketch  of,  i.  47. 
Melancholy  state  of  German  churches,  ii. 

415. 
Melanchthon,  i.  53,  58,  65,  116,  125. 

on  the  Church,  i.  167. 

ill,  i.  197. 

and  Eck  at  Worms  and  Ratisbon,  i. 
216. 

a  disputant  at  Ratisbon,  i.  255. 

admonished,  i.  467. 

urged  to  study  the  subjects  of  Elec- 
tion and  the  Lord's  Supper,  iii.  61. 

dies,  iv.  119. 
Melun,  Synod  at,  i.  439,  448. 
Menonite  heresy,  iv.  25. 
Mentz,  Bishop  of.  i.  22,  123. 
Mercer  called  to  the  academy  of  Geneva, 
iv.  341. 

John,  successor  of  Vatable  in  Hebrew 
chair,  college  of  France,  iii.  412. 
Merchant  burned  at  Lyons,  iv.  421. 
Merle  iV  Auliign6,  M.  lo  Doeteur,  i.  12. 

58 


Merlin  resign?  his  charge,  iv.  21. 
re-called  to  (ioneva,  iv.  224. 
marriage  of,  iv.  409. 
Message  of  Calvin   to  Church  at  Frank- 
furt, iii.  271,  274. 
of  consolation  to  Brentz,  iv.  411. 
Metz,  Reformation  at,  i.  82. 
church  of,  i.  160. 
state  of  affairs  nt,  i.  387. 
church  at,  ii.  44. 
Michel  Bishop  of  Aubonne,  i.  52, 
Microuius,  Martin,  expelled  from  London, 

settles  at  Norilen,  iv.  25. 
Microw,  Agnes  de,  iii.  112. 
Mignet,  M.,  and  the  Reformation,  i.  11. 
Milan  coveted  by  King  of  France,  i.  177. 
Military  movements,  iv.  280. 

in  Switzerland,  ii.  88. 
Minden.  i.  101. 

Mines,  Church  of  St.  Marie  aux,  i.  150. 
Ministerial  ofBce,  dignity  of,  asserted  by 
Calvin,  i.  144. 
danger  of  undervaluing,  i.  148 
support  at  Geneva,  i.  335. 
struggles,  i.  344. 
Ministers  at  Geneva  in  place  of  Calvin, 
Farel,  and  Courault,  i.  74. 
needed  at  Geneva,  i.  179. 
of  Zurich   to  those  of  Strasbourg,  i. 

258. 
of  Geneva  railed  at,  ii.  71. 
and  magistrates  at  Geneva  disagree, 

ii.  423. 
sent  to  Angers,  iii.  225. 
sent  to    the   Queen   of   Navarre,  iv. 
317. 
Mirabeau,  of  Neuchatel,  i.  254. 
"  Mirror  of  the  sinful  soul,"  i.  33. 
Misconduct  of  ministers   in   the  Pays  do 
Vaud,  ii.  94. 
of  Virgerio,  iv.'  112. 
Misery  caused  by  the  sinner  not  by  God, 

ii.  365. 
Mission  to  Germany  prevents   return  of 
Calvin  to  Geneva,  i.  216. 
of  Calvin  to  Switzerland,  ii.  95. 
of  Farel  and  Beza  to  German  princes, 

iii.  332. 
of  Budd  and  Beza  to  Germany,  iii. 

368. 
of  Beza  in  France,  iv.  124. 
of  Hotman  and  Beza  to  the  King  of 

Navarre,  iv.  146,  148. 
of  new  ministers,  iv.  243. 
Misunderstanding  between  Charles  V.  and 
Francis  I.,  i.  190. 
Farel  and  Fabri,  iv.  419. 
Mitigation    of    punishment    of    Servetus 

sought  by  Calvin,  ii.  417. 
Moderation  of  Sidemann  commended,  iii. 
159,  160. 
of  authority  recommended,  iii.  273. 
Modesty  of  Calvin,  i.  269. 
Monastery,  Calvin's  visit  to,  i.  27. 
Monk  rejected,  i.  324. 


458 


INDEX. 


Monks  and  priest?,  support  of,  iv.  76. 
Monluc,  iv.  293. 

Bishop  of  Valence,  iv.  239. 
Montbeliard,  pastors  of  the  church  of,  ad- 
monished, ii.  208. 
Count  of,  ii.  241. 
Monte,  Cardinal,  elected  Pope  (Julius  III.) 

ii.  264. 
Montelimart,  church,  sketch  of,  iv.  96. 
Montuiain,  Comte  de,  i.  162,  163. 
Montmor,  M.  de,  ii.  141. 
Moutmoreucy,  Constable  de,  i.  162,  163. 
Anne  de,  i.  162. 
and   Tournon   urge  the  death  of  the 

five  prisoners,  ii.  401. 
A.  de,  the  enemy  of  the   Huguenots, 
iv.  30. 
Montpellier,  to  the  physicians  of,  iv.  358. 
Moniiier,  Claude,  i.  323. 
Moraud,  i.  92. 

Morel,   Francis  de,   called  to    Paris,  iii. 
259. 
recalled  from  Paris,  iii.  392. 
Francis  de.  Almoner  to  the  Duchess 
of  Ferrari,  iv.  348. 
Morges,  James  de,  calumnies  of,  i.  349. 
Morinus,  i.  38. 
Morison  dies  of  the  plague  at  Strasbourg, 

iii.  33. 
Mother  of  God,  is  it  lawful  to  call  Mary 
so?  ii.  361. 
of  Jane  d'Albret,  iv.  246. 
Motte,  Sieur  de  la,  ii.  284. 
Movements  of  the  Emperor,  ii.  307. 

of  Duke  of  Savoy,  iv.  336. 
MuUer,  Jean  de,  i.  8. 
Mullot,  Michael,  i.  79. 
Munster,  Sebastian  of  Basle,  i.  322. 
Munzer,  the  Anabaptist,  i.  428. 
Murmuring  about  the  Catechism,  iii.  165. 
Muscuhis,  Wolfgang,  ii.  108. 
Mutual   concessions  implored  in  French 

Church  at  Frankfort,  iii.  257. 
Myconius,  i.  56. 

Oswald,  i.  312,  320,  421. 
death  of,  ii.  326. 
Mysticism  and  other  errors  at  Frankfort, 

iv.  21. 
Mysterious  letter  of  Calvin  to  Beza,  iv. 
126, 

N 
Naples,  coast  of,  ravaged  by  the  Turks, 

iii.  356. 
Nausea,  i.  195. 
Navarre.  King  of,  i,  164. 
arrested,  i.  147. 
Queen  of,  i.  342. 
Necessity  of  sinning  by  God's  will,  the 
jargon  of  the  Monks,  not  Calvin's 
doctrine,  ii.  365. 
for  reforms  in  England,  iii.  118. 
for  safeguards,  iv.  347. 
Negotiations,  Bucer  and  Genevese  magis- 
trates, i.  80. 


Negotiations  of  the  Protestant  princes  of 
Germany,  ii.  58. 
of  Zurich  with  Catholic  Cantons,  iii. 

268. 
with  the  Court,  iv.  263, 
Nemours,  Duke  of,  iv.  284. 

escape  of,  iv.  239. 
New  work  of  Calvin,  i.  35. 

ministers    in    Geneva  after    banish- 
ment of  Calvin,  i.  74. 
in  Geneva,  estimate  of,  i.  338,  342. 
complaints  against  Bernese  ministers, 

iii.  136. 
edition  of  Sermons,  iii.  150. 
feasts  not  established  by  Calvin,  iii. 

164. 
Tract   of  Westphal  against    Calvin, 

iii.  235. 
minister  announced  to  Frankfort,  iii. 

258. 
proceedings   to  secure  harmony  be- 
tween the  Bernese  and  Genevese, 
iii.  299. 
conference  desired,  iii.  285. 
doctrines  in  Church  at  Frankfort,  iv. 
21. 
"  New  Man,"  The,  iv.  21. 
News  from  France  and  Germany,  i.  421, 
422,  447. 
from  Germany,  ii.  26. 
from  Germany  and  Italy,  ii.  51. 
Netherlands,  prepares  for  war,  i.  390. 
Neuchatel,  Church  of,  i.  42. 
Calvin  at,  i.  282. 

Presbytery  of,  excommunicate  Alex- 
andre, i.  159. 
troubles  in  Church  of,  i.  286,283,  311. 
Church  of,  pacified,  ii.  34. 
election  of  a  minister  at,  ii.  36. 
Nickname  of  Perrin,  iii.  292. 
"  Nicodemites,"  Book  against,  i.  434. 
Nicolas,  ii.  49. 
Nimes,  i.  51. 

troubles  at,  iv.  197. 
sketch  of  church  of,  iv.  197. 
Nismes,  outrage  at,  i.  58. 
Nobleman  of  Casteline  assassinated,  iv. 

181. 
Nobles  of  Poland;  Letter  to,  iii.  317. 
Nceguely,  John  Francis,  of  Berne,  ii.  94. 
Normandie,  Laurent  de,  of  Noyon,  ii.  248. 

death. of,  ii.  219. 
Nuremberg,  Romanist  League  of,  i.  257. 
Numerous  engagements  of  Calvin,  i.  362. 

0 
Oath  imposed  on  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  iv. 

122. 
Obstacles  in  way  of  M.  de  Falais,  ii.  162. 
raised  by  Bernese   to  alliance  with 
Geneva,  iii.  211--215. 
Obstinacy  of  Servetus,  iv.  409. 
Ochino,  of  Sienna,  i.  355,  358. 
tenets,  i.  380,  381. 
recommended,  i.  481. 


INDEX. 


459 


Odet  de  Coligny,  iv.  30. 

(Ecoliiiiipiiilius,  i.  ."JO,  67. 

Offer  to  Mercer  of  llubrow  chair  at  Geneva, 
iii.  .■512. 

Olivier,  Francois,  a  persecutor,  ii.  59. 

Olivetan,  translator  of  Bible  into  French, 
i.  42,  43. 
related  to  Calvin,  i.  42,  43. 
death  of.  i.  104. 

Opinion  of  Farel,  ii.  25, 

Oporin,  i.  69,  93. 

OppMe,  D',  i.  469. 

Opposition  to  Calvin  and  Viret  by  Zebe- 
dee,  ii.  251. 

Oppression  of  the  Waldenses,  i.  471. 

of  Protestants  in  the  provinces,   iv. 
346. 

Orange,  Viret  at,  i,  51. 

Orbe,  i.  51,  99. 

letter  to  the  brethren  of,  iii.  24. 

Order  to  repair  to  Biiden,  iii.  348. 

Orders  of  Lorraine  against  the  Reformed, 
i.  151. 

Organization  of  the    Academy  of  Deux 
Fonts,  iii.  461. 

Origin  of  church  of  the  refugees  at  Frank- 
fort, iii.  240. 

Oritz,  Nicolas,  the  Inquisitor,  ii.  392. 

Orleans,  University  of,  Calvin  at,  i.  25. 
Wolmar,  professor  at  the  University 
of,  iii.  48. 

Orthes,  i.  51. 

Osiander,  Andrew,  i.  437. 

disputes  caused  by,  ii.  311. 

Othman,  Francis,  Jurisconsult  at  Stras- 
bourg, iii.  399. 
sketch  of,  iii.  399. 

Otho,  Henri,  of  Augsbourg,  i.  127. 


Pacaeus,  Valentin,  of  Loipsic,   ii.  274; 
iii.  155. 

Palatine,  The,  desires  reformation,  i.  197. 

Palatinate,  churches  of,  trouble  in,  about 
the  Lord's  Supper,  iii.  379. 

Palinodia  of  M.arcourt,  iii.  239. 

Pamiers,  Church  of,  iv.  54. 

Parent,  Nicolas,  (Deacon  at  Strasbourg,) 
i.  220. 

Paris,  Calvin  in,  i.  27. 

Reformation  at,  i.  310. 
members  of  the  church  of,  congratu- 
lated, iii.  310. 
date  of  formation  of  the  church,  iii. 

319. 
two  pastors  promised  to  the  church, 
iii.  321. 

Parties  in  Germany,  state  of,  i.  194,  243. 
in  Geneva,  i.  407. 

Parvi.  Bishop  of  Senlis,  i.  40. 

Passelius,  Charles,  a  pseudonym   of  Cal- 
vin, iii.  414. 

Passy,  M.  de,  urged  to  become  a  minister, 
iv.  254. 

Pastors  of  Berne:  Letter  to,  iii.  171. 


Pastrjrs  al  Frankfort  requested  to  destroy 

the  book  of  Servetus,  ii.  422. 
Patience,  a  work  by  the  Protector  Somer- 
set, ii.  258. 
and  constancy,  exhortation  to,  ii.  384. 
Pau,  Viret  at,  i.  51. 
Paul,  Francis  do  St.,  eulogy  on,  iv.  98. 
Paule,  .John,  of  Piedmont;  Letter  to,  on 

Baptism,  iii.  186. 
Payerne,  Viret  preaching  at,  i.  51. 

Church  of,  i.  140. 
Pay  do  Vaud,  Reformation  in,  i.  44. 
Pays  de  Vaud,  Synod  of,  i.  307. 

the  classes  of  and  the  Lord's  Supper, 
i.  347. 
Peace    desired    between     England    and 
France,  ii.  233. 
and   union  of  the  churches  desired, 

iii.  156. 
with  England  desired,  iv.  346. 
Perfidy  of  Noth,  iii.  204. 

of  Peter  Toussain,  iv.  281. 
Pelagianism,  Calvin  accused  of,  ii.  263. 
Pellican,  Conrad,  i.  67,  377,  378. 

death  of,  iii.  269. 
Peloquin  and    Marsac,  Calvin's  letter  to, 
ii.  418. 
their  martyrdom,  ii.  418. 
Perils  of  Geneva,  iii.  479. 
Permission  of  Council  to  Calvin  to  pub- 
lish his  book  against  Servetus,  ii. 
447. 
Perrenot,  minister  of  Charles  V.,  ii.  101. 
Perrin,  A.,  i.  209. 

complaints  of,  ii,  56. 
recovers  his  dignities,  ii.  199. 
misconduct,  ii.  224. 
influence  of,  ii.  56. 
imprisoned,  ii.  114. 
Persecution  in  Berne,  i.  58. 

in  Franco,  i.  168,  182,  187,  451. 
Persecutions  in  bounds  of  Paris,  ii.  35. 
Persecution  in  Low  Countries,  ii.  239. 
blessed  to  the  cause  of  truth,  ii.  318. 
in  France,  ii.  239,  244,  349. 
"  and  Italy,  iii.  58. 

Persecutions  redoubled  in  Piedmont,  iii. 
260. 
in  the  valleys  and  at  Paris,  iii.  377. 
Persecution  rages  at  Ferrari,  iii.  129. 
Persecutions  in  Spain,  iii.  490. 
Perseverence  of  the  saints,  ii.  297. 
Perucel,  Francis,  Minister  at  Wezel,  iii. 
29. 
Foreign  Minister  in  London,  sketch 

of,  iii.  64. 
and  Albrac,  difference  between, ou  the 
Lord'.^ Supper,  iv.  22. 
Petition  to  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv.  109, 
111. 
on   behalf  of  a  prisoner  in   the  In- 
quisition, iv.  277. 
Pfarrer,  Matthew,  Burgomaster  of  Stras- 
bourg, iii.  328. 
Pflug,  Julius,  i.  255. 


460 


INDEX. 


•  Pflug,  Bishop  of  Naumburg,  presides  at 
conference  at  Worms,  iii.  335. 
Philip  of  Hesse,  i.  122. 
Philiperius,  iv.  25. 
Phyrisius,  i.  67. 

Physician  recommended,  iv.  381. 
Piedmont,  war  on,  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 

ii.  27. 
Pighius,  reply  to  attacks  of,  ii.  317. 
Pigney,  i.  32. 

Piperin,  Christopher,  iv.  421. 
Pistols,  troopers  armed  with  (a  novelty), 

i.  145. 
Pistorius,  John,  i.  255. 
Pisseleu,  Peronne  de,  ii.  201. 
Pius   IV.    ascends   the   Papal   throne,  iv. 
131. 
denounces  the  Waldenses,  iv.  174. 
Placentia  and   Parma  demanded  by  the 

Pope,  iv.  134. 
Plague  at  Geneva,  i.  5,  357,  452. 
extensive  ravages  of,  i.  364. 
ceases  at  Geneva,  i.  480. 
at  Ratisbon,  i.  237. 
in  Switzerland,  i.  363 
at  Berne,  ii.  287. 
at  Basle,  i.  78. 
ravages  of,  i.  294, 
re-appears,  i.  420. 
Plan  of  Pius  IV.  to  break  the  Colloquy 

of  Poissy,  iv.  222. 
Plans  of  the  Romish  Prelates,  iv.  219. 
for  securing   the  gospel   at  Metz,  i. 
382. 
Platerius  (Physician)  i.  78. 
Plea  for  discipline,  to   Pastors  of  Zurich, 
ii.  442. 
for  the  Waldenses,  i.  429. 
Plots  of  the  Guises,  i.  142. 
Poem  by  Calvin,  iii.  331. 
Poet,  JVI.  du,  general  of  religion  in  Dau- 

phiny,  iv.  438,  439. 
Poetry  in  praise  of  Calvin,  iii.  238. 
Poitiers,  origin  of  the  Church  of,  iii.  138. 

letter  to  the  Church  of,  iii.  138. 
Poitou,  duty  of  brethren  of,  iii.  43,  68. 
reform  introduced  into,  iii,  68, 
reformers  at,  iii.  68. 
rigorous  measures  at,  iii.  69. 
Poland. war  declared  against  by  the  Turks, 

i.  105,  243. 
Policy  of  the  Emperor,  i.  438. 
Cantons  of,  ii.  88,  144. 
of  Calvin,  to  sustain  his  views  of  dis- 
cipline, ii.  440. 
Pons,  Madame  de,  encouragement  to,  ii. 

436. 
Pont  de  Veyle,  i.  192. 
Pope,  the.  struggles  to  plunder  Parma,  ii. 

313. 
Popery  waning,  i.  46. 
Popish  zeal,  i.  181. 
Porral,  Amy,  the  first  Syndic,  i.  331. 
Portrait  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  i.  189. 
Position  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv.  145. 


Poulain,      Valeran,     brother-in-law     to 
Hooper,  ii.  210. 
reprimanded,  ii.  104. 
sketch  of,  iii.  65. 

advised  to  resign  his  pastorate,  iii. 
274. 
Poverty  of  Calvin,  i.  136,  149,  170. 
of  Calvin's  colleagues,  ii.  249. 
Powers  of  Genevese   magistrates,  ii.  106. 
Power  of  civil  magistrates  to  punish  her- 
etics asserted,  ii.  447. 
Poyot,  William,  i.  343. 
Praise  of  Beza,  ii.  339. 
Prayers  for  the  dead,  i.  47. 
Preaching  of   Beza  before   Coligny  and 

others,  iv.  222. 
Precursors  of  civil  war  in  France,  iv.  265. 
Predestination,  Calvin  on,  ii.  317,  334. 
and  Providence,  ii.  366. 
opposed  in  the  Pays  de  Vaud,  iii. 

137. 
Zerkinden  on,  iii.  432. 
doctrine  of,  defended,  iii.  143. 
Preliminaries  of  the  Assembly  of  Baden, 

iii.  322. 
Preparations  for  marriage,  ii.  173, 

for  departure  to  Frankfort,  iii.  291. 
for  journey  to  Switzerland,  iv.  381. 
Presages  of  new  troubles  in  France,  iv. 

304. 
Present  to  the  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  iv.  348. 
Presumption  condemned,  iii.  276. 
Priesthood    restored    to    their    primitive 

functions,  iii.  108. 
Priests  and  nuns  withdraw  from  Orbe,  iii. 

25. 
Prince  Porcien,  counsels  to,  iv.  307. 
Princes  of  Saxony,  dedication  of  works 

to,  iii.  154. 
Principal  in  College  of  Geneva,  i.  352. 
Principle,  Calvin  adheres  to,  i.  134. 
Prisoners  of  Lyons,  the  five,  their  names, 
ii.  350,  359. 
their  case  hopeless,  ii.  401. 
of  Lyons,  Calvin  to,  ii.  404,  411. 
exhorted  to  constancy,  ii.  404. 
assured  of  eternal  joy,  ii.  404. 
their  serenity,  ii.  404. 
triumphant  death,  ii.  404. 
Private  services  acknowledged,  iii.  330. 
Proceedings  at  Strasbourg,  i.  387. 

of  the  refugees,  iii.  292. 
Proclamations  against  the  house  of  Guise, 

iv.  107. 
Professor  of  Theology,  Calvin  becomes, 

i.44. 
Professor's  chair  refused  to  Caroli,  i.  201. 
Professors  of  Bale  disapprove  of  sentence 
on  Servetus,  ii.  44S. 
in  the  Geneva  Academy,  iv.  21,  141. 
Progress  of  the  gospel,  iv.  190,  263. 
in  Poland,  iii.  267. 
in  Prance,  iii.  463. 
Projects  of  Lisinannini  approved,  iii.  109. 
of  Uoligny  uncertain,  iv.  325. 


INDEX. 


461 


Promiscuous  manducation,  iii.  335.  • 
Promise  of  marriage  retracted,  ii.  110. 
Property  contiscated,  ii.  78. 
Proposal  of  Perrin's  wife,  ii.  1.38. 
Prospects  in  (iormaiiy,  ii.  77. 

of  trouble  in  Franco,  iv.  363. 
Prosperity  in  CLurch  at  Geneva,  i.  313. 
Protection    for    the     French    Church    in 

Frankfort  besought,  iii.  256. 
Protector  Somerset,  Calvin  to,  ii.  182. 
Protest  against  an  arbitrary  sentence,  iii. 

339. 
Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  negotia- 
tions of,  i.  161. 

attitude  of,  i.  128,  129. 

courageous,  i.  180,  181. 

defeated,  ii.  113. 
Protestation  against  sentence  of  the  Seig- 
neurs of  Berne,  iii.  176. 
Provence,  Vaudois  of,  calumniated,  i.  228. 

defence  of,  i.  162. 
Proxim.tte  causes  seen  by  men,  yet  God 
rules  over  all  as  a  Sovereign,  ii. 
367. 
Prudence  to  be  e-^cercised  in  carrying  out 

reforms,  iii.  118. 
Prussia,  Ileformation  in,  i.  122. 
Psalms,  translated  by  Marot,  ii.  299. 

in  French  verse,  by  Beza,  ii.  341. 
Psalm  singing  at  Paris,  effects  of,  iii.  444. 
Public  baptism  advocated,  iii.  87. 
Publications  of  Calvin,  ii.  277,  278. 
Punctuality  of  Calvin,  i.  31. 
Pupils  sent  to  Zurich,  iv.  125. 
Purity  of  the  Vaudois,  i.  431. 

R 
Radziwill,  Nicolas,  of  the  grand  duchy 
of  Lithuania,  sketch  of,  iii.  133, 
exhorted   to  promote  reform   in  Po- 
land, iii,  133. 
Ragnone,  Lactanzio,  death  of,  iv.  32. 
Ransom  of  Duke  of  Longueville,  iii.  393. 
Rapid  progress  of  the  truth  in  Paris  in 

the  face  of  persecution,  iii.  423. 
Rash  swearing,  ii.  29(1. 
Ratisbon,  Calvin  sent  to,  i.  226. 
Calvin  at,  i.  237. 

conferences  at,  unsatisfactory,  i.  271. 
end  of  I>iet  at,  i.  279. 
Diet  at  contemplated,  i.  208. 
Assembly  at,  ii.  27. 
Diet  of,  ii.  43. 
Ravages  of  the  plague,  ii.  23. 
Reasons   for  delay  of  return  to  Geneva, 

i.  391. 
Recall  of  Calvin  to  Geneva,  steps  for,  i. 
1.34. 
to  Geneva,  impressions  of,  i.  175. 
Reception  of  Des  Gallars  in  London,  iv. 
114. 
of  Beia  by  King  of  Navarre,  iv.  222. 
Recommendations  of  Jjisinannini,  iii.  132. 
Recommendation   of   a   French   Seigneur 
deprived  of  his  property,  iii.  349. 


Recommendntion  of  a  young  Frenchman 

at  Wurins,  iii.  355. 
Reconciliation  attempted,  the  Senate  and 
Calvin,  i.  68. 
of  Farel  and  Caroli,  i.  150. 
at  (jeneva,  i.  178. 
of  Calvin  with  Perrin,  iii.  16. 
of  parties  at  (leneva,  iii.  19. 
Recovery  of  Calvin,  ii.  28. 
Kecrimiuation,  iv.  246. 
Redmond,  Floriraond  de,  i.  58. 
Reform  in  England  encouraged,  ii.  183. 
enjoined  on  Edward  VI.,  ii.  299. 
the  duty  of  sovereigns,  iii.  99. 
Reformation  in  Paris,  i.  36. 
advanced  by  Farel,  i.  74. 
promotion  of,  proposed,  i.  124. 
in  England,  character  of,  i.  126. 
hijpes  for,  i.  127. 
in  Poland,  iii.  99. 
Reformed  churches,  union  wished,  i.  66. 
worship  prescribed  in  Augsburg,  ii. 
307. 
Reforms  in  Church  of  England  demanded, 
ii.  315. 
in  Baden,  iii.  301. 
Refugees  recalled,  i.  406. 
at  Geneva,  ii.  313. 

from  England  in  Switzerland,  ii.  439. 
English  and  Scotch  at  Lausanne,  iii. 

28. 
at  Vevay,  iii.  28. 
at  Zurich,  iii.  28. 
at  Geneva,  iii.  28. 

disappointed  before    the   Liijues,  iii. 
297. 
Refusal  to  reply  to  Socin,  ii.  330. 
Refutation  of  Servetus  by  Calvin,  ii.  447 ; 
iii.  IS,  20. 
of  Westphal,  iii.  111. 
Regency  taken  from  King  of  Navarre,  iv. 

109. 
Regard  for  Calvin  of  the  King  of  Navarre, 

iv.  207. 
Regret  at  absence  of  Beza,  iv.  245. 
Relation  of  Geneva  to  France,  iv.  106. 
Relative  state  of  the  armies  in  the  first 

religious  war,  iv.  282. 
Reliance  of  Calvin  on  God,  ii.  149. 
Relics,  Calvin  on,  i.  371. 
Religion  maintained  in  the  Alps,  iii.  21. 
state  of,  in   Jersey  and  Guernsey  in 
time  of  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  ii.  463. 
Religious  division  of  Swisserland.  iv.  224. 
liberty  guaranteed    to   the    Lyouese, 
iv.  296. 
Removal  of  abuses  in  the  church,  iii.  108. 
Renaudie,  intrigues  of,  iv.  105. 
Renewed  efforts  after  peace  at  Frankfort, 
iii.  253. 
efforts  to  induce  the  Church  of  Zu- 
rich to  take  part  in  the  measures 
of  the  Swiss  churches,  iii.  370. 
Renewal  of  alliance  between  Berne  and 
Geneva,  iii.  400. 


462 


INDEX. 


Rentigny,  Madame  de ;  Letter  to,  in  pri- 
son, iii.  381. 
blamed  for  weakness,  iii.  416. 
sketch  of,  iii.  416. 

Rejjly  to  Joachim  Westphal  on  the  sacra- 
ment, iii.  79. 
of  a  German  prince,  iv.  68. 
to  Baudouin,  iv.  236. 

Reprobates  convicted  by  their  own  con- 
sciences, ii.  367. 

Request  concerning  a  confession,  iv.  337. 

Residence  of  Calvin  in  Geneva,  ii.  97. 

Resides  with  Bucer,  i.  94. 

Resignation  of  Calvin,  i,  281. 

at  Lausanne  urged  on  Viret,  iii.  314. 

Resistance  of  oppression  considered,  iv. 
68. 

Restoration  of  the  church,  iv.  412. 

Respect  avowed  for  the  senate  of  Frank- 
fort, iii.  182. 

Results  of  Colloquy  of  Poissy,  iv.  233,  237. 

Retirement,  Calvin  in,  i.  41. 

Retreats  of  the  Piedmontese  afford  safety, 
iii.  407. 

Return   to    Geneva  inadmissable,   i.  210, 
214. 
to  Geneva,  Calvin's  consent,  i.  2,59. 

Revenues  of  benefices  squandered  in  Eng- 
land, ii.  316. 
of  the  Universities  in  England  squan- 
dered, ii.  31  6. 

Revisal  of  formulary,  ii.  243. 

Revolution  in  Metz,  iii.  470. 

Richebourg,  Louis,  and  Charles  de,  i. 
237. 

Right  of  children  to  baptism,  iii.  73. 
to  baptism  in,  iii.  283. 

Rigor  against  Reformers  at  the  court  of 
France,  iv.  43. 

Riot  by  the  Libertins,  iiu  185,  192. 

Rise  of  English  church  at  Frankfort  and 
Geneva,  iii.  148. 

Rising  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  ii.  148. 

Roche,  Denis  do  la,  ii.  75. 

Roche-Posay,  Madame  de  la.  Abbess  of 
Thouars,  ii.  229. 

Rognac,  Caroli  at,  i.  156. 

Roman  prelates,  dissipation  of,  i.  452. 

Romorantin,  Edict  of,  iv.  108. 

Roset,  Michael,  Chronicle  of,  ii.  286. 

Rothelin,  Marchioness  of,  at  Geneva,  iii. 
357. 
exhorted  to  faithfulness,  iii.  396. 
Marquise  de,  iv.  42. 
admoni.shed,  iv.  65. 
congratulated  on   her  constancy,  iv. 
303. 

Rouen,  disturbances  at,  iv.  325. 

Rousseau  dies  in  the  dungeon  of  Dijon, 
his  body  afterwards  burned,  iii. 
36L 

Roussel,  Gerard,  preacher  to  the  Queen 
of  Navarre,  i.  37,  467. 

Rout  of  the  French  array,  iii.  356. 

Royal  marriages,  iv.  43. 


Roye,  Comtesse  De,  encouraged  to  hold 
the  truth  steadfastly,  iv.  227. 
Letter  to,  iv.  301. 
Ruchat,  i.  8,  45. 
Rumors  at  Geneva,  ii.  101.    ■* 
Rupture  of  relations  between  Calvin  and 
Servetus,  ii.  30. 
of  Calvin  with  M.'  de  Falais,  ii.  381- 
383. 

S 

Sacramentarian  discord,  iv.  383. 

quarrel  revived,  iii.  52. 
Sacraments,   controversy  on,  in    German 
and  Swiss  churches,  i.  428. 

Calvin  on,  i.  366,  369. 

question  of,  iii.  121,  126. 
Sacred  writings,  authority  of,  disputed  by 

Castalio,  iii.  53. 
Sad  condition  of  the  church  at  Frankfort, 
iii.  278. 

occurrences  in  Germany,  ii.  125. 

state  of  the  republic,  ii.  147. 

tidings,  ii.  76. 
Sadolet,  effects  of,  i.  151. 

answer  of  Calvin  to,  i.  151. 

Letter  of,  i.  157. 

Epistle  to,  French  translation  of,  i. 
162. 

Epistle  to,  i.  162. 
Sadness  of  Bucer,  ii.  281. 
Saint  Andre,  i.  480. 

Helier,  Church  of,  in  Jersey  continued 
to  the  present  time,  ii.  453. 

Laurens,  M.  de,  ii.  253. 
Saints,  invocation  of,  i.  371 ;  ii.  295. 
Sale  of  Calvin's  books,  i.  149. 
Salignae  encouraged,  iv.  239. 
Salutations,  1.  113. 

Sarrazin,  Physician  to  Calvin,  iv.  358. 
Saunier,  Antoine,  a  disciple  of  Farel,  i. 
53,  101,  105. 

banished,  i.  53,  101,  105. 

pastor  at  Morges,  i.  53,  101,  105. 
Sauve,  censure  of  the    minister   of  this 

church,  iv.  205. 
Savoy,  eulogy  on  Duchess  of,  iv.  361. 
Saxony,  Duke  of,  i.  196. 
Scandal  of  D'Andelot's  fall,  iii.  450. 

evils  of,  i.  303. 
Scandalous  conduct  noted  by  Calvin,  i. 

223,  224. 
Scandals;  Book  on,  published,  ii.  279. 
Scarcity  of  ministers,  iv.  263. 
Schaffhausen,  Letter  to  pastors  of,  i.  372. 
Schism  denied  by  Calvin,  i.  99. 
School  at  Geneva,  i.  341. 

dispersed,  ii.  24. 
Schnef,  Erard,  Professor  at  Jena,  iii.  331. 
Scottish  noble,  a  correspondent  with  Cal- 
vin, iv.  184. 
Sechelles,  M.  de,  of  Frankfort,  iii.  181. 
Second  call  of  Italian  Church  at  Geneva, 
to  Martyr,  iii.  363. 

refutation  of  Westphal,  iii.  248. 


INDEX. 


468 


Second  Treatise   on  the   sacraments,  by- 
Calvin,  iii.  153. 
Secret  assemblies  at  Poitiers  advised,  iii. 
223. 
negotiations  on  behalf  of  the  Kefor- 
mation,  iv.  41. 
See  of  Rome,  policy  of,  i.  244. 
Sfckonilorf,  i.  125. 

Seigneurs  of  Borne  did  not  excommuni- 
cate offenders,  ii.  442. 
wavering  in  Geneva,  ii.  128. 
of  Geneva,  Calvin  to,  i.  282. 
of  Neuchatel,  Calvin  to,  i.  282,  286. 
of  Geneva  ;  Letter  to,  i.  208,  214,  225. 
Self-denial  of  Calvin,  i.  280. 
Senarclons,  Claude  de,  i.  434,  468. 
Senate  of  Strasbourg,  zeal  of,  i.  132. 
Sending  of  two  ministers  to  Paris,  iii.  392. 
Seneca, ''  De  dementia,"  Commentary  on, 

by  Calvin,  i.  31. 
Sending  a  pastor  to  the  Church  of  Paris, 

iii.  127. 
Seninghen,  Comtesse  de,  encouraged,  iv. 

332. 
Sentence  of  arbiters,  enquiries  about,  iii. 
316. 
of  Bailiff   of  Berne,  demand  for  its 

being  set  aside,  iii.  348. 
of  the  Seigneurs  on  the  Christian  In- 
stitutions of  Calvin,  ii.  369, 
on  Servetus  accordant  with  the  stern- 
ness of  the  age,  ii.  435. 
on  Servetus  approved  by  Bucer,  O^col- 
ampadius,  Melanchlhon  and  Bul- 
linger,  ii.  436. 
Sermon   by   Calvin   on   occasion    of  the 

death  of  a  Libcrtin,  iv.  407. 
Sermons  of  Bullinger,  iii.  34. 

on  Psalm  cxis.  by  Calvin,  iii.  18. 
of  Ochino.  ii.  46. 
Servant,  a,  of  Calvin's  made  prosecutor 

of  Servetus,  ii.  417. 
Seven  martyrs  at  Paris,  iii.  390. 
Severe  judgment  on  the  King  of  Navarre, 
a  renegade,  iv.  247. 
persecutions  in  France,  iii.  402. 
Servetus  threatened,  ii.  33. 
arrested,  ii.  416. 
sketch  of  his  life,  ii.  416. 
conduct  of,  ii.  417. 
led  to  his  fate,  ii.  435. 
Seymour,  Lady  Anne,  ii.  236. 
Short  confession  of  Luther,  i.  466. 
Shrewdness  of  Bullinger,  iv.  133. 
Strasbourg,  Calvin  at,  i.  80. 
Sickness  of  Boza,  ii.  314. 

of  Calvin,  i  204;  ii.  72.  337;  iv.  285. 
of  Calvin's  wife,  i.  335;  ii.  20. 
of  Viret's  wife,  ii.  37. 
her  death,  ii.  37. 
Sidemann,  Martin  of  Erfurt,  iii.  159. 
Siege  of  Lyons,  iv.  284. 
Sienna,  war   against  by  the  emperor,  iv. 

414. 
Sigismond,  King  of  Poland,  i.  243. 


Signatures  to  the  Confession  of  Faith  of 

the  Italians,  iii.  443. 
Silence  of  JMelandithon.  iii.  61. 
Simon's  judgment  of  Farel,  i.  74. 
Sinapi,  John,  i.  104. 
Six  articles,  Tlip,  act  of,  or   the   liill  of 

blood,  i.  161. 
Slanders  of  the  King  of  France  against 
the  gospel,  iii.  408. 

of  Zebedee  about  the  death  of  Serve- 
tus, iii.  179. 
Sleidan,  John,  life  of,  iii.  57. 
Sluggishness  of  the  King  of  Navarre,  iv. 

127. 
Smalkald,  i.  110. 

alliance  formed  at,  i.  122. 

Diet  at,  i.  179. 

league  of,  i.  137. 
Socin,  Lelio,  founds  a  sect,  ii.  330. 
Soldier  minister  censured,  iv.  270. 
Somerset,  letter  to,  ii.  257,  308. 

replies  to  Calvin,  ii.  238. 
Sorbonne  and  Carol!,  i.  276. 

reply  to  the,  i.  408. 

articles,  reply  to,  i.  420. 
Sorrowful  warnings  of  Calvin,  iv.  259. 
Soubise,  M.  de,  advised  in  difficult  circum- 
stances, iv.  316. 

to  lay  down  arms,  iv.  295. 
Spain  threatened  by  the  Turks,  i.  343. 
Spanish  refugees,  iv.  37 
Spina,  Jean  de,  iy.  230. 
Spira,  Francis,  history  of,  ii.  245. 
Spire  of  a  church  destroyed  at  Geneva, 

iii.  290. 
Spires,  Diet  of,  i.  382,  423. 
Sponsors  in  Baptism  when  required,  iv. 

75. 
Spread  of  gospel  in  isles  of  France,  ii. 

432. 
Spy  arrested  at  Geneva,  iii.  202. 

conducted  to  Berne,  iii.  203. 
Stancari,  errors  of,  refuted,  iv.  113. 
State  of  France,  iv.  262. 

of  Geneva,  ii.  41. 

messenger  to    the    Swiss    Churches 
about  Servetus,  ii.  435. 

of  Germany,  ii.  129. 

of  parties  at  Geneva,  iii.  33. 

of  religion  in  France,  iv.  321. 
States  General,  meeting  of  at  Paris,  iii. 

.387. 
Stay  of  Calvin  and   Farel  at  Strasbourg, 

i.  388. 
Steadfastness  in  the  faith  enjoined,  ii.  205. 

of  the  Queen  of  Xavnrre,  iv.  267. 
Stephens,  Robert,  at  Geneva,  ii.  284. 

and  Commentary  on  John,  ii.  375. 
Strife  in  the  council  at  Geneva,  i.  356. 
Strasbourg,  Calvin  at,  i.  381. 

goes  to,  i.  171. 

lectures  at,  i.  106. 

pre]>iires  to  leave,  i.  280. 

Calvin's  return  to,  i.  271. 

constancy  of,  i.  138. 


464 


INDEX. 


Strasbourg,  Calvin  leaves,  i.  282. 
letters  from,  i.  58. 
LonJ's    Supper    in    French    Church 

there,  i.  92. 
ministers  of,  to  settle  there,  i.  77. 
zeal  of  the  senate,  i.  150. 
Struggles  at  Geneva,  i.  416  ;  iii.  110, 
of  Calvin,  i.  450. 

of  the  Reformer  for  the  truth,  ii.  130. 
of  Viret  at  Lausanne  against  tyran- 
ny, ii.  371. 
Student  at  Geneva  academy,  iv.  77. 
Sturm,  1.  68,  104,108. 

a  deputy  at  Frankfort,  i.  116. 
John,  sketch  of,  ii.  200. 
St.  Victor,  Abbot  of,  marriage  of,  i.  404. 
Submission  of  Strasbourg,  ii.  100. 

to   Luther,  of  Calvin's   writings,  i. 
440. 
Success  of  Farel  against  the  Libertins,  ii. 
445. 
of  Calvin,  ii.  442. 
of  Lismannini  in  Poland,  iii.  110. 
Successful   destruction   of  the   Chriatian- 

hmi  Refttitutio,  ii.  422. 
Succours  from  England  and  Germany,  iv. 

276. 
Sucquet,  i.  32. 

Sudden  illness  of  Calvin,  iv.  413. 
Sufferings  of  Calvin,  iv.  320. 

of  the  Church  of  Paris,  iii.  127. 

of  the  French  Protestants,  iv.  66. 

Suggestions    respecting   a   memorial    in 

letter  to  Coligny,  iv.  328. 
Sulcer  informed  of  Italian  affairs,  iv.  130. 
Sulzer  defends  Konzen,  i.  91. 

of  Berne,  i.  151. 
Superstition,  Calvin  on,  i.  436. 
Sujiplex  exhortatio  of  Calvin,  i.  452. 
Supplication  and   Remonstrance  on   the 
state  of  Christendom,  by  Calvin, 
iii.  388. 
Supremacy  of  the  Emperor  in  Europe,  ii. 
225. 
of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  reputation  of, 
iii.  102. 
Suspicion  of  Vergerio,  cause  for,  iii.  265. 
Suspicions,  unjust,  of  Calvin's  orthodoxy, 

i.  338. 
Sympathy  of  Calvin,  ii.  60. 

of  Swiss  churches  besought  for  Wal- 

denses,  i.  459. 
of  the  Swiss  churches  with  their  per- 
secuted brethren  at  Paris,  iii.  367. 
for  Lord  Grey  in  affliction,  iii.  94. 
for  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  iv.  266. 
Syndics  and  Council  of  Geneva  to  Calvin, 
i.  214. 
elected  at  Geneva,  iii.  15. 
at  Geneva  oppose  Calvin  and  Fiirel 
i.  64. 
Synod  at  Geneva  required,  i.  49. 
of  Neuchatel,  iv.  264. 
of  Paris,  preliminaries  of,  iv.  38. 
of  Zurich,  i.  68. 


Sweden,  progress  of  Reformation  in,  iv.  25. 
Swiss  churches,  desire  for  union  with,  i. 
128. 
anxiety  respecting  them,  i.  227. 
Confession  of  Faith,  i.  65. 
favored  by  King  of  France,  ii.  125. 
and  German  churches,  hopes  of  ac- 
commodation, i.  167. 
Sorrow  of  Farel  at  Calvin's  sickness,  iv. 
364. 


Tactics  of  Romish  writers  to  disparage 

Calvin,  iv.  435. 
Tailly,  Du,  i.  120. 

M.  du,  desires  Calvin's  return,  i.  134. 
193. 
Taking  of  Havre   from  the  English,  iv. 

334. 
Tarnow,  Count,  exhorted  to  advance  the 

gospel  in  Poland,  iv.  423. 
Terror  of  the  Guises,  iv.  156. 
Textor,  Benedict,  i.  336. 
Thanks  for  a  present  from  Bullinger,  iii. 
268. 
to  Melanchthon  in  the  matter  of  Ser- 
vetus,  iii.  157. 
Theft  of  a  letter  by  a  servant,  i.  449. 
Theodore,  i.  67. 
Theolocjia  Germanica,  iv.  22. 
Theologians  of  Zurich  refuse  to  send  de- 
puties to  Trent,  ii.  309. 
Thonon,  Couralt  at,  i.  70. 
Threat  of  Henry  II.  against  Geneva,  iv. 

55. 
Tidings  from  England,  ii.  262. 

from  Germany,  ii.  262. 
Tierry,  Earls  of,  i.  180. 
Tillet's  bounty  to  Calvin,  i.  96--98. 
Tillet,  Du,  i.41. 
John  du,  i.  60. 
Louis  du,  i.  60,  71,  94, 
Toils  of  Calvin,  iii.  421. 
Toleration  advocated  by  the  ministers  of 
Berne,  ii.  335. 
First  edicts  of,  iv.  188. 
Tonnerre,  Comtesse  de,  exhorted  to  godly 

walking,  iv.  306. 
Torture  of  a  pastor  in  Rouen,  ii.  453. 
Toulouse,  extravagant  rage  of  Parliament 

of,  iv.  191. 
Tournon  and  Lorraine,  Cardinals  of,  stir 
up  the  King  of  France  against  the 
truth,  iii.  426. 
Cardinal  de,  enemy  of  Waldenses,  i. 

229. 
a  persecutor,  i.  470. 
of  Lyons,  i.  438. 
incites  persecution,  i.  458. 
Toussnin,  of  Metz,  i.  183. 

of  Montbeliard,  ii.  175. 
Tradition,  Calvin  on,  i.  366. 
Tragical  death  of  a  Libertin  at  Geneva, 

iv.  405. 
Tranquillity  desired,  iii.  299. 


INDEX. 


465 


Translation  from  pastoral  charges,  Cal- 
vin's judgment  thereon,  i.  140. 
Transubstautiation,  ii.  296. 
Calvin  on,  i.  371. 

diflBculties   respecting,   at   Ratisbon, 
i.  263. 
Travelling  in  Sixteenth  century,  i.  446. 
Treachery  of  the  Guises,  iv.  108. 

towards  Calvin,  ii.  177. 
Treatise,  l)e  Scandalis,  ii.  73. 
Treatises  of  Calvin  translated,  i.  446. 
Treuielii,  chair  of  Hebrew  in  Geneva  of- 
fered to,  iii.  464. 
Emmanuel,  ii.  140  ;  iii.  95  ;  iv.  35. 
Trent,  Council  of,  i .  123, 376 ;  ii. 27;  iv.  171. 
reopened,  ii.  309. 

opposition  of  Calvin  to  Council  of, 
iv.  266. 
Trepidation  at  Lyons,  iv.  137. 
Trial  and  condemnation  of  the  Libertins, 

iii.  204,  205. 
Trials  of  D'Andelot,  iii.  445,  450. 

of  the  Danes,  iv.  281. 
Tribulations  of  Calvin  at  Geneva,  iii.  155 ; 

iv.  421. 
Trie,  Guillaume  de,  death  of,  iv.  215. 
Trinity,    contests   of  Calvin   and   Alciat 
John  Paule  on  the,  iii.  86. 
opposed  by  Matteo  Gribaldi,  iii.  326. 
disputes  about,  in  the  Italian  Church 

in  Geneva,  iii.  442. 
assailed,  by  Servetus,  ii.  416. 
Triple  message  to  Melanchthon,  iii.  357. 
Troillet,  character  of,  iii.  146. 
disputes  with,  ii.  378. 
Seigneur,  accuses  Calvin,  ii.  363. 
Calvin's  reply,  ii.  363. 
Tronchin,  Colonel  Henri,  i.  12. 
Trouble,  Calvin  in,  ii.  178. 
Troubles  at  Geneva,  ii.  52,  127,  150,  151, 
373;  iv.  415. 
in  the  Italian  Church,  iv.  32. 
in  the  Foreign  Church  at  Frankfort, 

iii.  182. 
of  Dumoulin,  iii.  119. 
of  Italian  Church  at  Geneva,  iii.  422. 
Trustfulness  of  Calvin,  i.  87. 
Trust  in  God,  ii.  77. 
Tubingen,  Dumoulin,  elected  professor  in, 

iii.  47. 
Tumult  in  Geneva  against  Farel,  ii.  445. 
Turkey  dreaded,  i.  241. 
Turks  in  Wallachia,  i.  105. 
Turin,  Church  at,  founded  by  Quiotin,  iii. 

21. 
Tyranny  of  magistrates,  iv.  27. 

of  the  Seigneurs  of  Berne,  ii.  167. 

U 
TJlmis,  John  ab,  ii.  403. 
Ulrich,  i.  117. 

Chelius,  i.  254. 

Count  of  Montbeliard,  i.  22. 

Dr.  i.  106. 

of  Wirtemberg  sues  for  pardon,  ii.  96. 

59 


Unbaptizod  children,  charge  that  thoy  are 

lost,  replied  to,  iii.  281. 
Unhard,  Francis,  Chancellor  of  the  Duke 

of  Saxony,  iii.  153. 
Union   among  the   churches   desired,  ii. 
41. 
efforts  after,  i.  107. 
obstacles  against,  i.  442. 
of  Swiss  churches,  i.  133. 
of  Zurich  and  Strasbourg  churches 

desired,  i.  114. 
with  Christ,  ii.  297. 
with  the  Theologians  of  Zurich,  ii. 
210. 
Unity  in  worship  enjoined  on   the   Re- 
formed, iii.  24. 
Universities  in  England,  ii.  303. 
Unleavened  bread  in  the  Communion,  iii. 

162. 
Unpopularity  of  Calvin,  ii.  15. 
of  Calvin  in  Berne,  ii.  336, 
Unseasonable     dispute    respecting     the 

church  and  sacraments,  iv.  256. 
Upholding  the  gospel  by  force  of  arms, 

lawfulness  of,  iii.  38. 
Uses  of  sickness,  ii.  82  ;  iv.  331. 
Utenhoven,  John,  ii.  282. 

and  the  French  Church  in  London, 

iv.  102. 
sketch  of,  iii.  323. 
Uzes,  sufferings  in,  ii.  58. 


Vadian,  death  of,  ii.  310. 
Vain  effort  to  effect  a  reconciliation  be- 
tween Geneva  and  the  exiled  minis- 
ters, iv.  296. 
Valence,  Church  of,  sketch  of  history  of, 
iv.  95. 
exhortations  to,  iv.  95. 
Valeran  Poulain's  insolence,  ii.  139. 
counselled,  iii.  65. 
at  Frankfort,  iii.  65. 
Validity  of  office  in  settled  and  unsettled 

or  disturbed  churches,  iii.  242. 
Vandalism  by  a  minister,  iv.  205. 
Vandel's  profligacy,  ii.  124. 
Varaglia,  Godfrey,  exhortation  to  in  pros- 
pect of  martyrdom,  iv.  427. 
Varod,  Michael,  i.  364. 
Vassy,  massacre  of,  iv.  278. 
Vaudois  in  Provence,  i.  308. 
Vauville,   Richard,  of  Frankfort,   death 
of,  iii.  257. 
Letter  of  congratulation  to,  iii.  236. 
dies  of  the  plague,  iii.  236. 
Velsius,  an  Anabaptist  disturber  at  Frank- 
fort, iii.  293. 
Vergerio,  Paolo,  ii.  245. 
estimate  of,  ii.  276. 
law  professor  in  Tubingen,  iii.  326. 
Vernou,  John,  of  Poitiers,   martyred  in 

Piedmont,  iii.  142. 
Versatile  policy  of  Catharine  de  Mediois, 
iv.  345. 


466 


INDEX. 


Vesal,  Archbishop  of  Lunden,  i.  123. 
Vico,  Galeas  Caraccioli,  Marquis  of,  sketch 
of,  iii.  440. 
journey  to  Italy,  iii.  440. 
Vico,  Marquis  de,  ii.  345. 

Marquis  of,  ii.  381 ;  iii.  449. 
refugee  at  Geneva,  iii.  188. 
Victims  at  Angers,  iii.  261. 
■Viermey,  i.  28. 

Views  of  Calvin  and  Beza  on  the  death 
of  Francis  II.,  iv.  152. 
of  Calvin  on  public  games  and  amuse- 
ments, ii.  62. 
rejected  at  Zurich,  ii.  160. 
of  church  communion,  ii.  285. 
of  heresy  by  Farel,  ii.  417. 
Villefranche,  Church  at,  ii.  21. 
Villeneuve  d'Ast  et  Castillon,  Church  at, 

iii.  21. 
Villeroche,  Minister  to  the  King  of  Na- 
varre, iii.  384. 
Villemongis-Bricquemant,    Seigneur    de, 

dies  on  the  scaffold,  iv.  178. 
Vindication    of    himself    by    Calvin,    i. 
453. 
of  Reforms  in  Geneva,  iii.  160. 
Violence  of  Bernese  ministers,  ii.  172. 
of  family  of  Amy  Perrin,  ii.  70. 
of  Konzen,  iv.  388. 
Viret,  i.  45,  47,  48,  49,  51,  104,  186. 
earnest  letter  to,  iii.  259. 
efforts  of  Calvin  to  draw  him  to  Ge- 
neva, i.  307,  321. 
expected  in  Geneva,  ii.  108. 
received  in  Geneva,  ii.  42. 
Letter  to  Seigneurs  of  Berne,  i.  354. 
goes  to  Geneva,  i.  52. 
instructions  to,  i.  287. 
invited  to  Geneva,  ii.  151,  352. 
Peter,  i.  69. 

report  of  his  death,  ii.  38. 
urged  to  settle  in  Geneva,  ii.  38. 
Virgin,  images  of,  used  as  detectives,  iv. 
69. 
Mary,  intercession  of,  ii.  294. 
Virulence   of  the   German   Theologians, 

iv.  149. 
Visit  expected  from  Viret,  ii.  275. 

to  Strasbourg  offered  to  settle  dis- 
putes, iii.  57. 
Vitus,   Dr.  Theodore,  of  Nuremberg,  ii. 

39. 
Vulliemin,  Professor,  of  Lausanne,  i.  8. 

"W 
Wadian,  Joachim,  Burgomaster  of  Saint 

Gall,  i.  475. 
Waldenses  exhorted  to  maintain  friendly 
relations  with  the  Polish  churches, 
iv.  117. 
their  asylum,  ii.  21. 
of  Provence,  i.  270. 
of  Provence  defended,  i.  469. 
Want  of  a  Conference  to  settle  religious 
disputes  in  Germany,  iii.  293. 


Want  of  ministers  at  Geneva,  iv.  216. 
War  in  Germany,  rumors  concerning,  ii. 
83. 
in  Netherlands,  France,  and  Italy, 
i.  390. 
Warning  of   Earl   of    Arran   against    a 
treacherous  enemy  of  the  gospel, 
iii.  456. 
of  King  of  Navarre  against  the  Lu- 
therans, iv.  212. 
to  the  church  at  Frankfort,  iv.  21. 
Warwick,    Earl   of   Northumberland,   ii. 

183. 
Wasa,  Gustavus,  dedication  of  a  work  to, 

by  Calvin,  iv.  27. 
Watteville,  De,  i.  289. 
Wavering  state  of  the  church  in  Geneva, 

iii.  38. 
Weakness   of    Genevese  magistrates,  ii. 
106. 
of  Melanchthon  about  the  sacraments, 
iii.  157. 
Wendelin,  of  Strasbourg,  i.  133. 
Westphal  condemned  by  Synod  of  Nu- 
remberg, iii.  294. 
answer  to,  iii.  74. 
First  Tract  of,  iii.  79. 
his  book  and  BuUinger,  iii.  45. 
Joachim,  minister  at  Hamburg,  iii. 
215. 
Wezcl,  brethren  of,  admonished,  iii.  29. 
Whittingham  and  Knox  at  Frankfort,  iii. 

117. 
Wife  of  Gallars,  her  trials,  iv.  140. 
Wilergy,  Mademoiselle,  ii.  173. 
Wiles     of    Catharine     de     Medicis,    iv. 

280. 
William  of  Hesse ;  Letter  to,  iii.  349. 
Wisdom  of  Calvin,  i.  314. 
AVishes   the   pure   gospel   established   in 

England,  iv.  17. 
Wilna,  Palatine  of,  iv.  112. 
Wittemberg,    ceremonies    abound    in,    i. 

137. 
Witty  letter  of  Beza,  iii.  18. 
Wolf,  John,  of  Zurich,  iii.  109. 
Wolmar,  Melchior,  i.  29. 
eulogium  of,  iii.  48. 
Women  detained  in  prison  at  Paris ;  Let- 
ter to,  iii.  363. 
government  by,  iii.  38. 
Worms,  Assembly  of,  confession  of  faith 
presented  to,  iii.  370. 
Conference  at,  for  regulating  ecclesi- 
astical affairs,  iii.  331,  335. 
Diet  at,  i.452. 
Diet  of,  i.  213. 

preparations  for  Diet  of,  i.  206. 
Writing  dedicated  to  the  senate  of  Frank- 
fort, iii.  184. 
Wurtemberg,  i.  22. 

Duke  of,  takes  part  in   the  League 

of  Smalkalde,  iii.  400. 
Duke  Christopher,  supports  the  Re- 
formnti'in,  iii.  40J. 


INDEX. 


467 


Zanchi,  Jerome,  sketch  of,  iv.  33. 

called  to  Geneva,  iv.  33. 
Zeal  of  Bullinger  for  tho  Protestants  of 

France,  ii.  331. 
Zebedee,  Andrew,  i.  192. 

folly  and  sin,  i.  352. 
Zebedeus,  i.  106. 
Zerkinden,  Nicolas,  iii.  249, 

sketch  of,  iii.  428. 

blames  Calvin,  iii.  428. 

of  Berne,  ii.  116. 

orthodox  in  sentiment,  iii.  428. 

advises  moderation,  iii.  428. 

deplores  condemnation  of  Servetus, 
iii.  428. 
Zeuleger,  Venceslas,  Chaplain  to  tho  Duke 
of  Deux  Fonts,  iii.  461. 


Zeuleger,  a  German  divine,  advises  Cal- 
vin about  his  views  on  the  sacra- 
ments, iii.  351. 
Zollicofifro,  Christopher  and  Thomas,  of 

St.  Gall  and  Lyons,  ii.  396. 
Zuingli,  i.  65,  67. 
doctrines,  ii.  333. 
moderation  towards,  iii.  67. 
Zurich,  i.  65. 

Assembly  at,  projected,  i.  71. 
Calvin  to  the  pastors  of,  i.  265. 
Church  of,  i.  47. 
Synod  of,  i.  68,  107. 
Theologians  of,  and  Luther,  i.  89. 
Letter  to  the  pastors  of  the  Church 
of,  iii.  89. 
Zurichers  offended  by  Luther,  i.  466. 
Zwingli,  judgment  respecting,  iv.  402. 


THE   END. 


